Eli Roth has leapt to the defence of Russell Crowe, following accusations of anti-Semitic Tweets.
The 47-year-old ‘Robin Hood’ actor, who is friends with ‘Inglourious Basterds’ star Roth, was labelled anti-Semitic after ranting on Twitter to Roth about the religious practice of circumcision of children.
Crowe was criticised for writing: "Circumcision is barbaric and stupid. Who are you to correct nature? Is it real that God requires a donation of foreskin? Babies are perfect."
After media outlets slammed Crowe's 'slurs', he deleted the message and wrote: "I have a deep and abiding love for all people of all nationalities, I'm very sorry that I have said things on here that have caused distress."
He also wrote: “My personal beliefs aside I realize that some will interpret this debate as me mocking the rituals and traditions of others. I am very sorry.”
Roth later claimed that the fault lay with the press for criticising Crowe rather than the star for initially making the comments, saying: "I am deeply, deeply disturbed at the media's portrayal of Russell Crowe as an anti-Semite for making a joke to me on Twitter.
"Russell and I are great friends, and often tease each other publicly, as you can see from my response...
“Not one person from any media outlet contacted me to ask if it was a joke or not before running their vicious stories, which is indicative of a much more serious problem."
Roth later described Crowe as "one of the nicest people [he has] ever been lucky enough to meet and work with" and said that he is "respectful of all religions".
The ‘Piranha 3D’ director also told TMZ: "It's tabloid journalism at its worst. No-one contacted either of us. It's terrible.
“The press is trying to terrify celebrities into not using Twitter. They want to show they can still ruin you. It's sickening."