Actor Tom Hiddleston has issued an apology for his “inelegantly expressed” acceptance speech at the 74th Golden Globe Awards.
Hiddleston, whose intention was to focus attention on the civil war in South Sudan, was accused by critics of using the stage to brag about his charity work and trivialising a humanitarian crisis.
Hiddleston defended his acceptance speech on Facebook.
“I just wanted to say... I completely agree that my speech at the Golden Globes last night was inelegantly expressed,” Hiddleston wrote on Monday.
“In truth, I was very nervous, and my words just came out wrong. Sincerely, my only intention was to salute the incredible bravery and courage of the men and women who work so tirelessly for Unicef UK, Doctors Without Borders/ Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), and World Food Programme, and the children of South Sudan, who continue to find hope and joy in the most difficult conditions.
“I apologise that my nerves got the better of me,” he added.
In his acceptance speech, Hiddleston, who won the Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for his role in The Night Manager, said: “One night we were having a bite to eat at the canteen, where we were staying, and a group of young men and women tottered over to the table, and we were all having what they call a ‘dirty beer’ in humanitarian language.”
He added: “They were a group of Medecins Sans Frontieres doctors and nurses. And they wanted to say hello because during the shelling the previous month, they had binge-watched The Night Manager.”
He went on to say that the idea of providing “some relief and entertainment” for people who are “fixing the world in the places where it is broken, made me immensely proud.”
