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Quote Misrepresented, Will Smith Says Of Report

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 27, 2007

Will Smith is angry over celebrity gossip Web site articles that he said misinterpreted a remark he made in a Scottish newspaper about Adolf Hitler.

In a story published Saturday in the Daily Record, Smith was quoted saying: "Even Hitler didn't wake up going, 'Let me do the most evil thing I can do today.' I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was 'good.'"

The quote was preceded by the writer's observation: "Remarkably, Will believes everyone is basically good."

Over the weekend, dozens of celebrity gossip Web sites posted articles about the comment, many saying that Smith thinks Hitler was a "good" person.

"It is an awful and disgusting lie," Smith said in a statement Monday provided by his publicist. "It speaks to the dangerous power of an ignorant person with a pen. I am incensed and infuriated to have to respond to such ludicrous misinterpretation.

"Adolf Hitler was a vile, heinous vicious killer responsible for one of the greatest acts of evil committed on this planet," read the statement.

Meanwhile, a Jewish group said Wednesday that it accepts Smith's explanation.

"We welcome and accept Will Smith's statement that Hitler was a 'vicious killer' and that he did not mean for his remarks about the Nazi leader to be mistaken as praise," the Anti-Defamation League said.

Nicholson Was A Poor Patient
Jack Nicholson says he drew on his own experience in the hospital for his new film, "The Bucket List."

Nicholson and Morgan Freeman co-star as cancer patients who decide to travel the world following their wish list of things to do before they die.

"A lot of this movie was informed by my being not what I thought I would be, an excellent patient, but rather a poor one," Nicholson told reporters recently, according to AP Radio.

"That happened by coincidence just before this movie," Nicholson, 70, said. "Nothing as frightening as what these fellows had to go through."

The actor has said he was in the hospital for a procedure that wasn't life-threatening.

Rapper Avoids Warrant, Shows Up

Rapper Yung Joc, accused of taking a loaded gun to an airport, showed up seven hours late to his arraignment Wednesday and left court without commenting on the charge.

A judge issued an arrest warrant after Joc, whose real name is Jasiel Robinson, failed to appear in Cleveland Municipal Court for an 8:30 a.m. hearing. The warrant was revoked after he showed up late that afternoon.

Robinson's attorney, Stanley Jackson Jr., told the court Robinson had personal financial and family obligations. Jackson has said his client maintains his innocence.

Robinson, who faces a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon, didn't enter a plea.

Municipal Judge Michael John Ryan had increased Robinson's bail from $50,000 to $100,000 after he failed to show up in court Wednesday morning, but reduced the amount back to $50,000 when he appeared. Ryan set a preliminary hearing for Jan. 25.

Robinson, 27, of Atlanta, is accused of attempting to take a loaded gun onto a Delta Air Lines flight Sunday. The charge carries a possible jail sentence of up to 18 months.

Today's Birthdays

Actor John Amos is 68. ABC News correspondent Cokie Roberts is 64. Actor Gerard Depardieu is 59. Actor Masi Oka is 33.

Source: The Associated Press

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