The 'Aquaman' star said he didn't mean to 'disrespect your culture.'
Jason Momoa broke a sacred rule during his recent visit to the Sistine Chapel, which prompted him to apologize after fans let him have it.
Earlier this week, the Fast & Furious 10 star took to Instagram and shared a slideshow featuring photos and video of the action star admiring Michelangelo's masterpieces. Problem is, photography is absolutely off limits inside the Apostolic Palace, largely because flashes from cameras can prove harmful to the artwork.
He captioned the post, "I LOVE YOU ITALY what a beautiful start to our day off enjoying ROMA." Fans, however, were not happy with Momoa, who was accused of playing by a different set of rules.
One fan commented, "We, regular people, are not allowed to film inside the Sistine chapel 😢." Another fan wrote, "We can't take pics but ofc celebrities can 😔 nothing against Jason (I adore him) but it's not fair." Another comment read, "So they let the rich and famous film in there but us peasants can’t 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣."
Following the backlash, Momoa apologized in a video he sent to JustJared.com.
"I just also wanted to say, if you ever felt that I disrespected your culture, it wasn’t my intention," he said. "I came here when I was 19 or 20 to experience the Sistine Chapel. I’ve always wanted to and now that I can, I gave a wonderful donation to bring my friends and crew because we only had a couple days off to experience these places."
He continued, "And then I found people wanted to take pictures with me, which is very odd, during a trip to the Vatican with all this wonder and they want to take pictures with me, which I don’t get, but regardless, I did. I was very respectful and I asked for permission from what I thought, would be okay. I would never want to do anything to disrespect someone’s culture. If I did, I apologize. It was not my intention. I paid to have that private moment and gave a nice donation to the church. I love you. I’m sorry if I offended you."
Momoa had been in Italy filming Fast X. Back in April, Momoa spoke with ET about playing the villain, getting into the driver’s seat and getting into the action in the film.
"He's amazing. He's ornery. He's misunderstood," Momoa said of the villain he's set to play in Fast & Furious 10. The actor also dished about working with Charlize Theron, who welcomed him to the Fast & Furious family with a huge hug onset.
"I get to shoot with some really cool people that I have never -- I get to work with Charlize [Theron] first up, which I'm really excited about," the Dune star gushed. "She's amazing."
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