The nature of Michael Douglas' cancer remarks have been cleared up by his spokesperson Allen Burry, though the Guardian newspaper is sticking by its story. On Monday 3 June, the newspaper published an interview with Douglas - the star of Steven Soderbergh's Behind The Candelabra - in which he spoke about his cancer diagnosis and subsequent recovery.

According to the published interview, Douglas appeared to suggest his throat cancer was caused by oral sex and not from years of drinking and smoking. "No. No. Ah, without getting too specific, this particular cancer is caused by something called HPV, which actually comes about from cunnilingus," the actor was quoted as saying. Various medical professional refuted the claims before Allen Burry denied that Douglas said that oral sex was the cause of the cancer and claimed he was merely pointing out one of the many causes of oral cancer. "In a discussion with the newspaper," the Associated Press quotes Burry as saying, "they talked about the causes of oral cancer, one of which was oral sex, which is noted and has been known for a while now."

The Guardian refutes any charge of misrepresentation and claims "Mr Burry was not present at the Guardian's interview with Michael Douglas," adding, "the only two people present were Mr Douglas and the Guardian writer, Xan Brooks." The newspaper also posted the relevant audio file of the interview, along with a verbatim transcript of the interview. Over to you, Mr Douglas.

Watch the Behind the Candelabra trailer:

Michael DouglasCatherine Zeta Jones
Michael Douglas [L] Is Married To Hollywood Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones [R]