Jason Blum Apologizes for ‘Dumb Comments’ About Lack of Female Directors

“I will do better,” producer of “Halloween” says

Jason Blum

Jason Blum is “sorry” for his “dumb comments” about a lack of female directors available to make movies under his Blumhouse banner.

“Thank you everyone for calling me out on my dumb comments in that interview,” he said early Thursday morning on Twitter, referencing a Polygon piece that was published not 20 hours prior. “I made a stupid mistake.”

Blum then went on to point out the female-skewing demographics of both his audience and executive team. He also referenced actress Jamie Lee Curtis as the anchor of his new movie “Halloween,” which hits theaters tomorrow. In addition to starring in the film, Curtis is also an executive producer on it.

Citing his “passion” for gender parity several times, Blum said this morning that his company has “not done a good enough job working with female directors” and that it is “not because they don’t exist.”

“I am sorry,” he summed up. “I will do better.”

Here is his tweet:

Blum’s original comments came in response to a Polygon interviewer who pointed out that Blumhouse has never produced a theatrically released horror movie directed by a woman.

“We’re always trying to [do] that…We’re not trying to do it because of recent events. We’ve always been trying,” Blum had replied. “There are not a lot of female directors period, and even less who are inclined to do horror.”

Also in the interview, Blum said that he’s offered numerous projects to both Jennifer Kent, the director of “The Babadook,” and Leigh Janiak, who directed “Honeymoon” in 2014, but nothing came of it.

“I’m a massive admirer of Jennifer Kent. I’ve offered her every movie we’ve had available. She’s turned me down every time,” Blum said.

Blumhouse has produced numerous projects directed by women, including Catherine Hardwick’s “Plush,” Karen Moncrieff’s “The Keeping Hours,” and the HBO series “Sharp Objects,” among others.

“Halloween,” which was directed by David Gordon Green, hits movie theaters on Friday.

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