Busey apologizes for red-carpet embrace

updated 10:24 a.m. ET March 18, 2008

LOS ANGELES - Gary Busey has apologized for embracing Jennifer Garner on the red carpet at the Oscars last month.

During a live E! pre-show broadcast, Busey repeatedly interrupted while Ryan Seacrest was interviewing Garner and Laura Linney. At one point, Busey embraced Garner, who looked annoyed.

“I meant no disrespect to Ms. Jennifer Garner when I met her at the Oscars and apologize if I made her uncomfortable,” the 63-year-old actor said in a statement e-mailed Monday by a publicist for his attorney, Vicki Roberts.

By the time he realized Garner and Linney were being interviewed, Busey said he tried to step back but “suddenly Ryan introduced her to me.”

Calls to Garner’s publicist, Leslie Sloane-Zelnik, weren’t immediately returned.

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“I simply greeted both actresses with joy and open arms, which is the way I would greet anyone I’m happy to meet,” Busey said. “Everyone has experienced a handshake or hug which has turned awkward, and this was no different.”

Busey, an Oscar nominee for his role in 1978’s “The Buddy Holly Story,” has parodied his eccentric reputation on the HBO comedy “Entourage.”

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