He was one of the greatest American critics and he only apologized once, and it was for this film!

World-renowned American critic Roger Ebert criticized a film starring Ben Stiller, “Zoolander,” in 2001 and apologized to the actor-director years later.

On September 28, 2001, Roger Ebert, American newspaper critic Chicago Suna frequent guest on television and very influential, writes his opinion on Zoolander directed by Ben Stiller. A very clear opinion, which Ben Stiller did not like.

“I just want to apologize”

As a reminder, the film features model Derek Zoolander (Stiller), who loses the title of male model of the year to Hansel McDonald (Owen Wilson) and three of his friends, who die in a tragic accident. He becomes depressed but receives an invitation from a great stylist. He goes to his house but it is a trap: Zoolander is brainwashed and sent to assassinate the Malaysian prime minister. The latter wants to regulate child labor but the great designers of the world do not hear it that way.

When the film was released, Roger Ebert wrote: a very harsh criticism towards the film (see below) and years later, in 2013, Ben Stiller confided that the journalist had discreetly excused a posteriori:

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson in “Zoolander”

That always seemed harsh to me. In his defense, I ran into him five or six years later backstage at The Tonight Show and he said, 'Hey, I just want to apologize to you. I wrote what you know about Zoolander and I (now) think it's really funny. It was all a little crazy (at the time). It was 9/11 and I overdid it.' I said, 'Thanks for telling me that backstage at The Tonight Show!'

Implied: “It does me a lot of good” Or “the damage is done”because Zoolander was a failure upon its release, grossing only $60 million worldwide. That sounds like a lot of money, but compared to Stiller's previous films as a director or actor: Crazy ($102.8 million), Meet the Parents ($330.4 million) or There's Something About Mary ($369.8 million), these are disappointing results.

So a non-public apology from a critic is understandable, and Ben Stiller doesn't care.

But what had the journalist written?

While he acknowledges the film's qualities, notably the passages with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, Ebert criticizes the film's subject matter:

Recently, there have been articles asking why the United States is so hated in some parts of the world. This week, I bring you some proof from Hollywood: Zoolander.

“If Malaysians had made a comedy about the assassination of the President of the United States because of his opposition to slavery, it would have seemed about as funny to us as Zoolander would be to them.”

“In fact, the more you put yourself in the shoes (if he had any) of a 12-year-old Muslim kid in a sportswear factory, the more you understand why he resents wealthy Americans and might be offended by a movie about the assassination of his prime minister (if he had the money to go to the movies).”

He concludes: “In a quick response to the tragedy of 9/11, the filmmakers of 'Zoolander' made a last-minute edit. No, they didn't dub the word 'Malaysia' or edit out the prime minister's assassination. What they did was digitally erase the World Trade Center from the New York skyline, so that the audience wouldn't have to remember the tragedy, as if we had forgotten it.”

Roger Ebert died in 2013, before he could see Ben Stiller's Zoolander 2, which was released three years later!