Charlotte Rampling has attempted to clarify the comments she made earlier this week, when she referred to the Oscars’ boycott as being ‘racist to white people’. The French actress, who is nominated for Best Actress at this year’s awards, was highly criticised online for her remarks, however she feels they were ‘misinterpreted’.

Charlotte RamplingCharlotte Rampling says her Oscars’ comments were ‘misinterpreted.’

In a statement to CBS News' Sunday Morning, Rampling said, “I regret that my comments could have been misinterpreted this week in my interview with Europe 1 Radio. I simply meant to say that in an ideal world every performance will be given equal opportunities for consideration.”

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“I am very honored to be included in this year’s wonderful group of nominated actors and actresses. Diversity in our industry is an important issue that needs to be addressed. I am highly encouraged by the changes announced today by the Academy to diversify its membership.”

When asked about the Oscars’ diversity debate by French radio station Europe 1 earlier this week, Rampling was quoted as saying, “It is racist to whites. One can never really know, but perhaps the black actors did not deserve to make the final list.”

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"Why put people into categories? We live in a country now where everyone is more or less accepted. Problems will always be sought [people say] 'him, he's less attractive', 'him, he is too black', 'him, he is too white'… there will always be someone who comes out saying 'you are too something.’"

"So basically are we saying we are going to put everyone and everything into one class or another to create lots of minority groups everywhere?” When the interviewer then explained that black members of the film industry feel like a minority, Rampling responded, “No comment.”