Bei/ShutterstockDays after Green Book won Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy at the 2019 Golden Globes, director Peter Farrelly apologized for repeatedly flashing his penis two decades ago in an attempt at humor. The admission came after The Cut resurfaced articles from Newsweek and The Observer, both published in 1998, in which he admitted to exposing himself; CNN later found an additional reference to his lewd behavior in a Sunday Times article published in 1998.
"True. I was an idiot," Farrelly said in a statement. "I did this decades ago and I thought I was being funny, and the truth is, I'm embarrassed and it makes me cringe now. I'm deeply sorry." In his previous interview with The Observer, the director insisted his vulgar behavior was just a joke, saying, "It's not like I make a habit of just whipping it out and saying, 'Hey! Look! My c--k!'"
In the Newsweek article, Cameron Diaz recalled auditioning for Farrelly and his brother before she was cast in There's Something About Mary. "When a director shows you his penis the first time you meet him," the actress said at the time, "you've got to recognize the creative genius."
Diaz later recounted the experience again in The Sunday Times. "We were in a restaurant and Peter Farrelly showed me his penis. That was enough, really. He got a positive response," the actress told the newspaper at the time. "That was all he needed to know. That was fine by me."
Diaz did not return CNN or The Cut's requests for comment Wednesday. Fox executive Tim Rothman had also "been flashed," adding, "It wasn't a pretty sight. In fact, I'm still recovering."
(Rothman is now the chairman of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group.)
Farrelly's other credits include Dumb and Dumber and Shallow Hal.
Green Book, which won three Golden Globes, has been nominated in seven categories at the 2019 Critics' Choice Awards and in three categories at the 2019 Screen Actors Guild Awards.