HALLE BERRY: Back Pedaling Out of Alleged Anti-Semitic Slur

By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices

Halle Berry better watch her mouth.

The Academy Award winning actress nearly dodged a bullet over her "alleged anti-Semitic" remarks during the taping of 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' on Oct. 19.

According to the New York Post, Berry was showing Leno and his audience images of herself on her computer using the Mac program Photo Booth, which distorts images like a carnival fun-house mirror.

"She introduced the first photo by saying, 'Here's where I look like my Jewish cousin!' - it was a picture of her with a huge, distorted nose," an anonymous alleged audience member told the daily tabloid. "No one laughed, and Jay nervously said, 'I'm glad you said that and not me.' When the show aired, they cut out her 'Jewish' comment and added a laugh track to the bit."

Another guest in the audience told the Post, "If you watch the clip, you can see Halle saying the word 'Jewish,' though obviously there is no audio. NBC covered her a - -. Ms. Berry should know how unbelievably inappropriate her comment was . . . She should be ashamed of herself."

Whoa nelly!!!

Berry, a longtime Revlon spokesperson, was promoting her movie 'Things We Lost in the Fire' -- her latest box office clunker -- which only made a dismal $1.6 million during its opening weekend.

Known as a media darling -- who coincidentally always has some harrowing tale to tell every time she has a new movie to promote -- spoke to the tabloid and tried to make amends.

"I so didn't mean to offend anybody - and after the show I realized it could be seen as offensive, so I asked Jay to take it out, and he did," the 'Strictly Business' star said.

"What happened was I was backstage before the show and I have three girls who are Jewish who work for me," she continued. "We were going through pictures to see which ones looked silly, and one of my Jewish friends said [of the big-nose picture], 'That could be your Jewish cousin!' And I guess it was fresh in my mind, and it just came out of my mouth. But I didn't mean to offend anybody. I didn't. I didn't mean any harm."

The Post said that the four and a half month pregnant beauty even offered to call its source and apologize in person, saying, "It was just a lighthearted segment that was meant to make fun of myself. There was a picture where I said I looked like Monica Lewinsky and one where I said I looked like Jay. It was just supposed to be a silly segment. I am so sorry, and I apologize."

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