The White Lotus star Jason Isaacs has addressed recent claims he made about an alleged "double standard" which exists for male actors being asked questions about on-screen nudity.
During a press tour for The White Lotus, Isaacs was asked by reporters if he was wearing a prosthetic penis during season three of the comedy drama show.
At this point, Isaacs claimed that reporters would "never dream" of asking similar questions to actresses Mikey Madison or Margaret Qualley, which led him to be on the receiving end of strong online backlash.
Since then, Jason Isaacs apologised for these comments, saying: "I said the wrong words in the wrong way. I used the phrase 'double standard,' which I didn’t mean at all", adding "There is a (different) double standard - women have been monstrously exploited and men haven’t".
Elaborating further, Jason Isaacs explained that he had made the comments in order to evade further questions.
"It came out wrong, and I was tired - I’d done so many interviews", he stated. "I absolutely should not have mentioned those two actresses, whom I respect enormously. Mikey Madison I’m a massive fan of".
"My point wasn’t that men have had a harder time than women - that would be absurd. Women have had a monstrous time on camera forever, and I hope to god that is changing".
Isaacs also said that male nudity in the series has been brought in in order to "redress the unfair balance" of nudity on screen and added that "women have been exploited forever in cinema and made to be gratuitously naked and asked totally inappropriate questions".
However, Isaacs has stood by his comments regarding questions over whether his character's penis was his own were "embarrassing and inappropriate", before adding that the questions were "a bit weird and slightly obsessive".
Jason Isaacs plays Timothy Ratliff in The White Lotus, as well as being renowned for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series, as well as Georgy Zhukov in The Death Of Stalin.
Back in January, Isaacs' White Lotus co star Aubrey Plaza called the tragic death of her husband Jeff Baena an "unimaginable tragedy". More on this here.
