Sam Elliott apologizes for Power of the Dog comments: 'I feel terrible about that'

Sam Elliott issued a very public mea culpa for his controversial remarks about Jane Campion's western film The Power of the Dog.

At Deadline's Contenders TV event on Sunday, Elliott apologized to the "brilliant" cast and crew of the Oscar-winning western — namely, star Benedict Cumberbatch — explaining that the film "struck a chord" and he simply wanted to discuss how he felt about it.

"I told the WTF podcaster [Marc Maron] that I thought Jane Campion was a brilliant director, and I want to apologize to the cast of The Power of the Dog, brilliant actors all," the 1883 star said. "And in particular Benedict Cumberbatch. I can only say that I'm sorry and I am. I am."

"I wasn't very articulate about it," Elliott continued. "I didn't articulate it very well. And I said some things that hurt people and I feel terrible about that. The gay community has been incredible to me my entire career. And I mean my entire career, from before I got started in this town."

Elliott added, "Friends on every level and every job description up until today. I'm sorry I hurt any of those friends and someone that I loved. And anyone else by the words that I used."

EW has reached out to Campion and Cumberbatch for comment.

The actor came under fire after he appeared on the WTF with Marc Macron podcast in March and criticized the film for its gay themes. "You want to talk about that piece of s---?" Elliott said when asked to speak on the film, before comparing Cumberbatch's central cowboy to a Chippendale dancer with "bowties and not much else" on stage.

"That's what all these f---ing cowboys in that movie looked like. They're all running around in chaps and no shirts, there's all these allusions to homosexuality throughout the f---ing movie," Elliott said, later questioning Campion's qualifications to helm a western.

"She's a brilliant director, I love her previous work, but what the f--- does this woman from down there, New Zealand, know about the American West?" Elliott asked. "And why the f--- did she shoot this movie in New Zealand and call it Montana? That rubbed me the wrong way, pal."

For her part, Campion — who became the first woman in Oscars history to score two career Best Picture nominations following Power of the Dog's recognition last month — called Elliott "a little bit of a b-i-t-c-h" in response to his remarks while on the red carpet for the Directors Guild of America Awards later that month.

"He's not a cowboy, he's an actor," Campion said. "The West is a myth exposed. There's a lot of room on the range. I think it's a little bit sexist, because you think about the number of amazing westerns that were made in Spain by Sergio Leone. I consider myself a creator and I think he sees me a woman or something lesser first, and I don't appreciate that."

Cumberbatch also appeared to respond to the homophobic comments during a BAFTA's Film Sessions roundtable discussion in early March, though he did not address Elliott by name.

"I'm trying very hard not to say anything about a very odd reaction that happened the other day on a radio podcast, without meaning to stir over the ashes of that," Cumberbatch said. "I won't get into the details of it, if it's hit in the news at home, it has here. But, someone really took offense ... to the West being portrayed in this way."

He continued, "Beyond that reaction, the denial that anybody could have anything other than a heteronormative existence because of what they do for a living or where they're born... there's also a massive intolerance in the world at large towards homosexuality, still, towards an acceptance of the other, of any kind of difference, and no more so than in this prism of conformity, in the sense of what is expected of a man in the Western archetype mold of masculinity."

Of Campion's masterful deconstruction of masculine stereotypes through his conflicted cowboy, Cumberbatch added, "These people still exist in our world ... there's aggression and anger and frustration and an inability to control or know who you are in that moment that causes damage to that person and as we know, damage to others around them. I think there's no harm in looking at a character to try to get to the root cause of that."

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content:

• Jane Campion wins Best Director and marks historic Oscar triumph for women
• The Power of the Dog director Jane Campion on her personal journey into the year's most Oscar-nominated movie
• Kirsten Dunst on the secret she shared with Kodi Smit-McPhee while making The Power of the Dog