Rupert Everett is Sorry

Rupert Everett issued a lengthy apology for an earlier comment in an interview where he called soldiers whiny wimps.

The original statement:

In Burton's day they were itching to get into the fray. Now it is the opposite. They are always whining about the dangers of being killed. Oh my God, they are such wimps now! The whole point of being in the Army is wanting to get killed, wanting to test yourself to the limits. Now you have to fly 15,000ft above the war zone to avoid getting hit. I don't think there is any point in having wars if that's how you're going to behave. It's pathetic. All this whining!

The gist of the apology:

But on Monday he issued a lengthy statement apologizing "without reserve" to the "many in this country, and hundreds and thousands of others across the world who have lost their brothers and sisters, their fathers and mothers to the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and all the countless others".

He explained he made his remarks to compare war now to war in Victorian times, saying: "I compared his longing to get into battle to the way we engage in war today. Then death was glorious. Today it is what it really is. Each and every death is a terrible tragic loss."

Everett is staring in The Victorian Sex Explorer. This whole mess will actually probably not even hurt the ratings, anyhow. People love controversy.