Sean Penn (Photo : REUTERS/ANTHONY HARVEY)
Although the Mexican-born "Birdman" director Alejandro Iñárritu found Sean Penn's green card joke at the 2015 Oscars hilarious, many people think it is racist.
Charlize Theron's husband kept his silence on the issue since the 87th Academy Awards on Feb. 22 until the recent promotional tour for his new film "The Gunman" in Beverly Hills, the Associated Press reported via Huffington Post.
"I have absolutely no apologies," Penn said adding that he does not care about people who are "stupid not to have gotten the irony when you've got a country that is so xenophobic."
Penn added that if such people had their way, there would not be great filmmakers like Iñárritu in the United States. He also explained that the order of his comments were deliberate saying, "There's a little inside humor with he and I where I know, and wanted to know, that he would be the first person in that room to know that his film won."
Presenting the Best Picture award at the 2015 Oscars, Penn asked "Who gave this son of a bitch his green card?" upon opening the envelope before announcing "Birdman" as the winner.
After the ceremony, Iñárritu said he and Penn have that kind of brutal relationship that "only true friendship can survive" and that he also makes a lot of very tough jokes on Penn that he will not tell.
Penn starred in the 2003 film "21 Grams," which was directed by Iñárritu. The two became close friends since them.
Penn's recent film "The Gunman" was shot in England, Spain and South Africa, Variety has learned.
