Sony Pictures Classics released a statement shredding actor Peter Fonda for his tweets, one of which called for 12-year-old Barron Trump to be raped — but the company said it would still release Boundaries, a new film co-starring Fonda.
“Peter Fonda’s comments are abhorrent, reckless and dangerous, and we condemn them completely,” the film company said in an emailed statement late on Wednesday.
However, the company went on to insist that pulling the upcoming Shana Feste-directed Boundaries, or trying to edit Fonda out of the film, would be “unfair” to the those involved.
“It is important to note that Mr. Fonda plays a very minor role in the film,” Sony continued. “To pull or alter this film at this point would unfairly penalize the filmmaker Shana Feste’s accomplishment, the many actors, crew members and other creative talent that worked hard on the project. We plan to open the film as scheduled this weekend, in a limited release of five theaters.”
The studio’s denunciation came on the heels of a string of disgusting tweets by the aging actor in which he attacked President Trump, called Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen a “gash” who should be “whipped naked” in the streets, and also called for the president’s 12-year-old son to be ripped away from his parents and to be raped by pedophiles.
The Easy Rider actor deleted the tweets and late on Wednesday afternoon apologized for the tweets. Fonda blamed the current highly emotional immigration debate for his actions.
“I tweeted something highly inappropriate and vulgar about the president and his family in response to the devastating images I was seeing on television,” Fonda said in a statement distributed through his public relations firm Pure Arts. “Like many Americans, I am very impassioned and distraught over the situation with children separated from their families at the border, but I went way too far. It was wrong, and I should not have done it. I immediately regretted it and sincerely apologize to the family for what I said and any hurt my words have caused.”
Boundaries premiered at SXSW this year and is set for a limited release on Friday, June 22.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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