Cameron Crowe—movie director, writer, and producer—has apologized for casting Emma Stone as an Asian-American his most recent flopped film, Aloha.

Crowe received harsh criticism for casting white girl Emma stone as Allison Ng, a character whose father is half-Chinese and half-Hawaiian.

Rightfully, upon the movie’s release last Friday, critics slammed the film for having a white actress play the role.

However, the complaints did not fall upon deaf ears.  On his blog, The Uncool Crowe, he confronted the complaints and even took responsibility for his choice to cast Stone.

“We were extremely proud to present the island, the locals and the film community with many jobs for over four months,” Crowe said after mentioning how many Asian-Americans, Native-Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders worked on the film.

“Emma Stone was chief among those who did tireless research, and if any part of her fine characterization has caused consternation and controversy, I am the one to blame,” he added.

Crowe heard complaints about the film long before it was released.

He even mentioned that issues with the casting in Aloha surfaced during the Sony hack last year.  In a set of leaked emails that the former studio chair Amy Pascal dismissed the film, saying “It never, not even once, ever works.”

But the most vicious complaints came from the Media Action Network for Asian Americans. They slammed the film for white-washing the Hawaiian islands.

“I am grateful for the dialogue. And from the many voices, loud and small, I have learned something very inspiring,” Crowe wrote. 

“So many of us are hungry for stories with more racial diversity, more truth in representation, and I am anxious to help tell those stories in the future.”