Cameron Crowe is finally apologizing for the controversy surrounding his new film Aloha.
"Thank you so much for all the impassioned comments regarding the casting of the wonderful Emma Stone in the part of Allison Ng," he wrote Tuesday on his official blog. "I have heard your words and your disappointment, and I offer you a heart-felt apology to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice."
The film, which takes place in Hawaii, stars Emma Stone as a quarter-Hawaiian and quarter-Chinese woman named Allison Ng. The casting drew heavy backlash for whitewashing a character who could have been played by an actress with actual Asian heritage.
In his apology, Crowe emphasized that Ng's character is based on a "real-life, red-headed local" who was very proud of her Hawaiian heritage, although she "looked nothing like one."
He added, "Whether that story point felt hurtful or humorous has been, of course, the topic of much discussion."
Aloha has also attracted criticism for its largely white cast as a whole, despite the fact that Hawaii is only about 26% white. The film deals heavily in Hawaiian culture, but has been condemned by groups like the Media Action Network for Asian Americans because it "uses Hawaii for its exotic backdrop, but goes out of its way to exclude the very people who live there."
Crowe responded to that complaint in his apology, as well: "We employed many Asian-American, Native-Hawaiian and Pacific-Islanders, both before and behind the camera…including Dennis 'Bumpy' Kanahele, and his village, and many other locals who worked closely in our crew and with our script to help ensure authenticity."
The director ended his apology by saying he wants to tell more diverse stories in the future.
"So many of us are hungry for stories with more racial diversity, more truth in representation, and I am anxious to help tell those stories in the future," he said.