Earlier this week, actress and director Elizabeth Banks took an opportunity to call out Steven Spielberg for his lack of women-led movies, blasting the prolific director from the podium at the Women in Film’s Crystal + Lucy Awards. “And by the way, he’s never made a movie with a female lead,” Banks said at the time. “Sorry, Steven. I don’t mean to call your ass out, but it’s true.” Now, she’s apologized for part of that statement, although her mea culpa isn’t aimed at Spielberg, so much as at an inaccuracy in her assertions about his film-making record.
At the time that Banks was making her remarks, actress Shari Belafonte brought up Spielberg’s 1985 movie The Color Purple, pointing out that the distinctly female-focused movie starred Whoopi Goldberg. Banks apparently breezed past Belafonte’s comments at the time, but she’s since apologized to her, both in person and online, for appearing to dismiss the film and its cultural importance.
“Those who have the privilege and honor of directing and producing films should be held to account for our mistakes, whether it’s about diversity or inaccurate statements,” Banks wrote. “I’m very sorry.” Banks is currently working on a Charlie’s Angel’s reboot. Spielberg, meanwhile, is set to direct The Papers, co-starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep.