Ben Stiller says he makes 'no apologies' for 'Tropic Thunder,' which featured Robert Downey Jr. in blackface: 'It's always been a controversial movie'
- Ben Stiller said he made "no apologies" for making the controversial 2008 film "Tropic Thunder."
- The actor was responding to a Twitter user who asked him to "stop apologizing for doing the movie."
Ben Stiller doesn't regret making "Tropic Thunder."
The 2008 action comedy, which also starred Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black, drew criticism for its portrayal of people with disabilities and Downey's use of blackface.
On Tuesday, Stiller responded to a Twitter user who asked the actor to "stop apologizing for doing this movie."
"It was and still is funny AF," the user tweeted. "Even funnier now with cancel culture the way it is. It's a MOVIE. Ya'll can just get over it. I was DYING laughing when I first saw it back in the day and so was everyone else."
Stiller, who starred in and directed the movie, responded later that day.
"I make no apologies for 'Tropic Thunder,'" the actor wrote. "Don't know who told you that. It's always been a controversial movie since when we opened. Proud of it and the work that everyone did on it."
"Tropic Thunder" follows a hapless group of actors shooting a war movie after they're dropped into the jungle and forced to survive using their questionable acting skills when they stumble into a real-life war zone.
In the film, Stiller portrays Tugg Speedman, an action-movie star who thinks he can win an Oscar by portraying a farmhand with an intellectual disability, as well as a bowl haircut, buckteeth, and a stutter.
The same Twitter user resurfaced an old tweet of Stiller's from 2018 in which the actor discussed the boycott around the film when it came out. Upon the film's release in August 2008, 20 disability advocacy groups objected to the use of a word used to disparage people with intellectual disabilities.
"Actually Tropic Thunder was boycotted 10 years ago when it came out, and I apologized then," Stiller tweeted in 2018. "It was always meant to make fun of actors trying to do anything to win awards. I stand by my apology, the movie, Shaun White, And the great people and work of the @SpecialOlympics.
Downey, meanwhile, played Kirk Lazarus, a method actor who darkens his skin to play a Black soldier. The actor has previously said he was initially reluctant to take the role, which earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor in 2009.
"He knew exactly what the vision for this was. He executed it. It was impossible to not have it be an offensive nightmare of a movie," Downey said in 2019 on an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience." "And 90% of my Black friends were like, 'Dude, that was great.'"
When Rogan asked about "the other 10%," Downey said: "I can't disagree with them, but I know where my heart was."
Downey added that he thought "it's never an excuse to do something that's out of place and not of its time, but to me, it was just putting a — it was a blasting cap."
"Sometimes, you just have to go, 'Yeah I effed up,'" the actor said. "Again, not in my defense, 'Tropic Thunder' was about how wrong that is, so I take exception."
Correction: February 24, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misquoted one of Robert Downey Jr.'s comments on "The Joe Rogan Experience." At one point while discussing his use of blackface, he said "not in my defense," not "in my defense."