Bret Easton Ellis Profusely Apologizes to Kathryn Bigelow Over Sexist “Zero Dark Thirty” Tweet

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by Charlie Schmidlin
December 18, 2012 9:00 AM
14 Comments

After trying unsuccessfully to garner the “Fifty Shades Of Grey” screenwriting gig through sheer social media chutzpah alone, novelist Bret Easton Ellis has now solemnly returned to another controversy seeded at the start of the month, one that saw him place “Zero Dark Thirty” filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow square in his sights.

After a terse month of constant revision and explanation of his original sexist tweet toward Bigelow, which considered her “a mildly interesting filmmaker if she was a man,” and as “a very hot woman really overrated,” Ellis has now finally offered up a lengthy apology via The Daily Beast. In his four-page explanation, the author constructs a timeline of his Tweets surrounding the incident, relating how his Twitter presence maintains a more provocative stance than what he really feels, and then realizing that his account “goes beyond douchiness into another more insensitive realm.”

Beyond reiterating the apology to Bigelow over “Zero Dark Thirty” -- a film, Ellis admits, he hasn't actually seen -- he continues on into the reasons for his animosity toward the director's filmography, all while failing to address the stranger and more pertinent aspects of his own career, namely the actual intention of his penned James Deen/Lindsey Lohan drama “The Canyons.” Even so, Ellis says he's planning “a bit of a break from Twitter” over the holidays to see Bigelow's film, so check his apology out now to determine whether it inspires anger or a diffident shrug.

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More: Bret Easton Ellis, Kathryn Bigelow

14 Comments

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Glass | December 18, 2012 11:26 PMReply

Articles like that are why I respect BEE so much. He's an openly flawed, thinking person who uses Twitter for fun things like this
Jeff | December 19, 2012 12:41 AM

Fun things like misogyny? You respect him for apologizing weeks later when it started adversely affecting his career?
Zack | December 18, 2012 6:43 PMReply

I forgot who it was who responded by saying that Mary Harron was the reason "American Psycho" was watchable, but they were right on the money.
Sofia | December 18, 2012 3:29 PMReply

Well, she is overrated and so are her movies...
Zack | December 18, 2012 6:47 PM

It's one thing to think she's overrated; it's another thing entirely to be a misogynistic asshole and make it entirely about her gender, as though directing is somehow a field wherein any woman who wants to do it is just given a free pass.
Bensom | December 18, 2012 12:13 PMReply

Brett's a classy guy.
AGW | December 18, 2012 10:55 AMReply

I love that Ellis ended his apology by saying he was going to layoff Twitter, until he watched Zero Dark Thirty. Then a few hours later, he tweets that Zero Dark Thirty is, "The most morally dubious, obtuse and overrated movie of 2012."

Perfectly BEE.
Sam | December 18, 2012 9:34 AMReply

first off, why is he *failing* to address his work on The Canyons? why are you bringing that film into the discussion? just to take an unsolicited jab at him? come on, guys. report, or even give us your opinion, but at least stay focused, here.
Wes | December 18, 2012 1:01 PM

my thoughts exactly.
lea | December 18, 2012 9:18 AMReply

Why is this news?
d | December 19, 2012 12:43 AM

I think it's news because Ellis published an apology in the Daily Beast, a news site.
tyrannosaurus max | December 18, 2012 2:23 PM

+1
sp | December 18, 2012 12:06 PM

Thank you. Why is this news ? And, why is Bret Easton Ellis a member of the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences? Bret's novels are badly written, and he could never trash anyone's talent.
gert | December 18, 2012 9:32 AM

+1