Will Smith Shoots Back Over Misinterpreted Comments

December 25, 2007 6:53 p.m. EST

Los Angeles, CA (CNS) - Will Smith is fuming over his Hitler comments. The 'I Am Legend' actor says that he was misinterpreted when he said he viewed German leader Adolf Hitler as an essentially "good person."

"It speaks to the dangerous power of an ignorant person with a pen. I am incensed and infuriated to have to respond to such ludicrous misinterpretation," Smith said.

The former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was criticized by the Jewish Defense League for a statement he made when he said, "Even Hitler didn't wake up going, 'let me do the most evil thing I can do today.' I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backward logic, he set out to do what he thought was 'good.'"

The league had labeled the comments "ignorant, detestable, and offensive." They also said that Smith had "spit on the memory of every person murdered by the Nazis. His disgusting words stick a knife in the back of every veteran who fought (and sometimes died) to save the world from the intentions of Adolf Hitler." They also want Smith's new film, I Am Legend, pulled from theaters.