controversy

Susan Sarandon Called the Pope a Nazi

The comment, which reportedly took place during an interview with Bob Balaban at the Hamptons Film Festival, has predictably drawn ire from the Catholic League and the Anti-Defamation League, both of whom have called on Sarandon to apologize. Apparently, the actress was discussing her 1995 role in Dead Man, a copy of which she was nice enough to send to the Pope. But which Pope, exactly? “The last one. Not this Nazi one we have now,” she clarified, presumably in reference to the oft-cited years the current one (Benedict) spent as a Hitler Youth. (The Vatican has said many times that membership was forced.) While Balaban “gently chided Sarandon for the remark,” she repeated it, anyway. As Kirsten Dunst will tell you, sometimes there’s just nothing one can do to stop these (not totally comparable but not totally dissimilar) situations. [Reuters]

Susan Sarandon Called the Pope a Nazi