Media outlets went into overdrive last week when reports surfaced that Last Tango in Paris director, Bernardo Bertolucci, had confirmed that elements of a scene which played out in the infamous 1972 movie hadn't been consented to by the film's lead actress Maria Schneider.
Referring to a scene which depicted the rape of Maria' character, Bernardo revealed that he and actor Marlon Brando had conspired to conceal their intent to use butter as a sexual lubricant from the young actress.
Explaining that a 19-year-old Maria was unaware of their plans to improvise during the scene, Bernardo said in footage filmed in 2013: "I had been, in a way, horrible to Maria because I didn’t tell her what was going on."
Speaking before her death in 2011, Maria said the scene had a considerable impact on her, explaining: "I felt humiliated and, to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Marlon and by Bertolucci. After the scene, Marlon didn’t console me or apologize."
And with press and public outraged by the director's admission in recent years, Bernardo felt compelled to speak out against the backlash.
Issuing a statement yesterday, he said: "I would like, for the last time, to clear up a ridiculous misunderstanding that continues to generate press reports about Last Tango in Paris around the world."
"Several years ago at the Cinemathèque Francaise someone asked me for details on the famous butter scene. I specified, but perhaps I was not clear, that I decided with Marlon Brando not to inform Maria that we would have used butter," he continued.
"We wanted her spontaneous reaction to that improper use of the butter. That is where the misunderstanding lies. Somebody thought, and thinks, that Maria had not been informed about the violence on her. That is false."
Insisting that Maria was aware of everything else set to play out in the harrowing scene, he added: "Maria knew everything because she had read the script, where it was all described. The only novelty was the idea of the butter."
"And that, as I learned many years later, offended Maria. Not the violence that she is subjected to in the scene, which was written in the screenplay."
Maria's life was tainted by drug addiction and overdoses following her role in the movie.
