PrintActor Val Kilmer apologizes for insulting Vets, New Mexico residents
Here's the TV news segment referenced above:
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June 24, 2010
Hollywood actor Val Kilmer on Wednesday gave a partial apology to New Mexico residents who were outraged that he'd reportedly called them drunks and also disparaged Vietnam veterans. Among the magazines that allegedly misquoted the actor were Rolling Stone and Esquire. In a bizarre moment at the public hearing where Kilmer spoke, a Hispanic man suggested the actor was a racist businessman.
Kilmer, wearing a prominent pony tail, got the permits he was seeking from county commissioners to turn his sprawling ranch outside Santa Fe into an upscale bed-and-breakfast. But resident Abran Tapia -- who together with other residents had opposed the permits because of Kilmer's alleged insults -- was not satisfied with what one local TV station called Kilmer's "partial apology."
"It's the biggest piece of crap that I've ever heard, Tapia said of Kilmer, who has put on considerable weight since the height of his Hollywood days.
Tapia, rising another concern, also complained that Kilmer's bed-and-breakfast would be "racist" because Hispanics couldn't afford to stay there, according to one news report. It was a puzzling remark, to be sure -- one that no doubt caught Kilmer off guard. No matter that it reflects a common sentiment among deep-thinking Hollywood liberals, members of ACORN, and perhaps even President Obama and his friends in Washington and Chicago.
