Will Ferrell pulls out of controversial Ronald Reagan Alzheimer's comedy

On the heels of outrage from the family of former President Ronald Reagan, Will Ferrell announced on Friday that he is no longer involved with a comedy movie being made about Reagan's battle with Alzheimer's.

According to Page Six, though Ferrell has seen the script and was considering producing it and starring as the former president, he has dropped out of the project.

"The 'Reagan' script is one of a number of scripts that had been submitted to Will Ferrell which he had considered," a spokesperson for Ferrell told Page Six. "While it is by no means an 'Alzheimer's comedy' as has been suggested, Mr. Ferrell is not pursuing this project."

Reagan's daughter, Patty Davis, wrote an open letter on her website about news of the project, which read:

"Perhaps if you knew more, you would not find the subject humorous. Alzheimer's … steals what is most precious to a human being - memories, connections, the familiar landmarks of a lifetime … I watched as fear invaded my father's eyes - this man who was never afraid of anything. I heard his voice tremble as he stood in the living room and said, 'I don't know where I am.'"

The project currently has no financing or a director attached.

According to Variety, the script, penned by Mike Rosolio, begins at the start of the then-president's second term when he falls into dementia and an ambitious intern is tasked with convincing the commander-in-chief that he is an actor playing the president in a movie.

A popular project on The Black List, the annual catalog of top unproduced scripts in Hollywood, the script even had a live read last month done by Lena Dunham and John Cho.

Business Insider's attempt to get further comment from Ferrell's rep was not successful.