NoisePutty.com

Richard Gere is trying to quiet the controversy over a public smooch he gave a Bollywood star at an AIDS awareness event, backtracking and apologizing Friday for any offense that people may have over the joke.

Gere’s grabbing and kissing of actress Shilpa Shetty sparked more than a few protests by conservative Hindu groups and a brought on a bunch of legal complaints, which ended up with a judge in the northwestern city of Jaipur, India issuing an arrest warrant for the two stars for violating obscenity laws.

Which brings up a point. When in another countny, you should really follow the other country’s laws.

Gere explained in a statement: “What is most important to me is that my intentions as an HIV/AIDS advocate be made clear, and that my friends in India understand that it has never been, nor could it ever be, my intention to offend you.” The statement oin Gere’s behalf was issued by the Heroes Project, an organization the 57-year-old actor co-founded to combat AIDS in India.

“If that has happened, of course it is easy for me to offer a sincere apology,” he said.

The embrace, in front of about 4,000 truckers, was a failed parody of a move from Gere’s film “Shall We Dance,” and “a naive misread of Indian customs,” he said.

Gere had (stupidly) earlier taken a firm stance on the joke, leveleing harsh criticism at the group who had complained.

“There is a very small, right-wing, very conservative political party in India, and they are the moral police in India and they do this kind of thing quite often,” he commented on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” last Thursday.

Gere then said that he was sure the controversy would be straightened out.

“I don’t know that anyone has actually gone to jail, it has to go through a process. It goes to a reputable court, and they throw it out,” Gere explained on the TV show. Under Indian law, a person convicted of such public obscenity charges could face up to three months in prison, a fine, or both.