NEW YORK — Catholic and Jewish groups are condemning actress Susan Sarandon for referring to Pope Benedict XVI as a Nazi.
The head of the Catholic League says her comment was "obscene," and the Anti-Defamation League released a statement calling on the actress to apologize to the Catholic community for the "deeply offensive" remark.
Sarandon, who won an Academy Award for her role in the 1995 anti-death penalty film "Dead Man Walking," made the comment during an interview Saturday at the Hamptons Film Festival on Long Island.
As first reported by Newsday, Sarandon said she gave a copy of the book on which the film is based to the German-born Pope, referring to him as a Nazi.
A telephone call to Sarandon's representative asking for comment was not immediately returned.
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