OMEN
10-24-2007, 10:12 AM
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BAD TASTE: Halle Berry has apologised after a joke about her Jewish cousin was edited out of her appearance on The Tonight Show.
Halle Berry has been forced to apologise after making an anti-Semitic joke during an appearance on an American talk show.
The Oscar-winning beauty - who is currently pregnant with her first child - was showing chat show host Jay Leno and his audience distorted images of herself when she made the faux pas.
When holding up a photograph of her with a larger nose, she quipped she looked like her Jewish cousin.
One audience member told the New York Post newspaper: "She introduced the first photo by saying, 'Here's where I look like my Jewish cousin!' - it was a picture of her with a huge, distorted nose. No one laughed, and Jay nervously said, 'I'm glad you said that and not me.'
When the show aired, they cut out her 'Jewish' comment and added a laugh track to the bit."
Halle later apologised for her remarks, insisting she didn't mean any offence.
She said: "I so didn't mean to offend anybody - and after the show I realised it could be seen as offensive, so I asked Jay to take it out, and he did.
"I was backstage before the show and I have three girls who are Jewish who work for me. We were going through pictures to see which ones looked silly, and one of my Jewish friends said of the big-nose picture, 'That could be your Jewish cousin!'
"And I guess it was fresh in my mind, and it just came out of my mouth. But I didn't mean to offend anybody. I didn't. I didn't mean any harm."
Bang! Showbiz
BAD TASTE: Halle Berry has apologised after a joke about her Jewish cousin was edited out of her appearance on The Tonight Show.
Halle Berry has been forced to apologise after making an anti-Semitic joke during an appearance on an American talk show.
The Oscar-winning beauty - who is currently pregnant with her first child - was showing chat show host Jay Leno and his audience distorted images of herself when she made the faux pas.
When holding up a photograph of her with a larger nose, she quipped she looked like her Jewish cousin.
One audience member told the New York Post newspaper: "She introduced the first photo by saying, 'Here's where I look like my Jewish cousin!' - it was a picture of her with a huge, distorted nose. No one laughed, and Jay nervously said, 'I'm glad you said that and not me.'
When the show aired, they cut out her 'Jewish' comment and added a laugh track to the bit."
Halle later apologised for her remarks, insisting she didn't mean any offence.
She said: "I so didn't mean to offend anybody - and after the show I realised it could be seen as offensive, so I asked Jay to take it out, and he did.
"I was backstage before the show and I have three girls who are Jewish who work for me. We were going through pictures to see which ones looked silly, and one of my Jewish friends said of the big-nose picture, 'That could be your Jewish cousin!'
"And I guess it was fresh in my mind, and it just came out of my mouth. But I didn't mean to offend anybody. I didn't. I didn't mean any harm."
Bang! Showbiz