Johnny Depp has apologized for a joke he described as poor and tasteless, which was about U.S. President Donald Trump assassination.
"I apologize for the bad joke I attempted last night in poor taste about President Trump," he said in a statement made exclusively to People magazine. "It did not come out as intended, and I intended no malice. I was only trying to amuse, not to harm anyone."
The actor has known that the joke would give rise to controversy and would be even twisted by the media.
"This is going to be in the press, and it will be horrible..." he said, speaking to a crowd on Thursday. "When was the last time an actor assassinated a President?"
The 1980s heartthrob attended the Glastonbury Festival in the UK when he the joke, which was put on a tape.
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I hope that some of Mr. Depp's colleagues will speak out against this type of rhetoric as strongly as they would if his comments were directed to a Democrat elected official," a White House official said in a statement.
During an off-camera press briefing Friday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer called Depp's comments "troubling."
"The President's made it clear that we should denounce violence in all its forms, and I think if we're going to hold to that standard and we should all agree that standard should be universally called out," Spicer said.."
The Secret Service acknowledged Depp's remarks, Secret Service staff assistant Shawn Holtzclaw told CNN.
"For security reasons, we cannot discuss specifically nor in general terms the means and methods of how we perform our protective responsibilities," according to a statement from the Secret Service.
Last year, Depp portrayed the role of Donald Trump in a spoof called, "Funny or Die Presents Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The