Pedro Almodóvar responds to Viggo Mortensen's unnecessary swipe.

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Pedro Almodóvar Responds to Viggo Mortensen on Cronenberg Cannes Jury Snub: ‘I Am Not to Blame’ for Rumors https://t.co/XVAA6PySFy pic.twitter.com/9KI3IHzeuC
- IndieWire (@IndieWire) May 27, 2022

While speaking to IndieWire about Crimes of the Future, Viggo Mortensen decided to put his foot in his mouth again by taking a swipe at iconic Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar over the Palme d'Or decision of 1999.

• At the 1999 festival, The Dardenne Brother's Rosetta took the Palme d'Or over Almodóvar's All About My Mother. AAMM was considered the heavy favorite for the award by the press so the win for Rosetta was considered a huge shock. Almodóvar took home Best Director.
• Rumors at the time, which have again resurfaced with Cronenberg back at Cannes, was that Cronenberg went out of his way not to give the top prize to AAMM. In reality, Rosetta's win was a unanimous decision by the entire jury.

Viggo seemingly blames Almodóvar for the rumor starting and states its "beneath" the director. He also stated talk around the decision is like Trump in that if you keep saying something people will start to believe it even though it's "bullshit."

In a statement released to IndieWire, Almodóvar states Viggo is not the right person to be discussing the story and that he founds Viggo's words "shocking," feeling insulted that Viggo would compare him to one of "the most atrocious characters in the current public sphere." He also states he's not to blame for the rumor and was the happiness person in the world when he won the Director prize. He understands how forturnate of an artist he is and isn't a fan that the French press portrays him as someone obsessed with winning the Palme.

This will be Almodóvar only public statement on the matter.

Source