'Green Book' writer Nick Vallelonga apologises for anti-Muslim tweet

Nick Vallelonga, one of the screenwriters for the Golden Globe-winning Green Book, has issued an apology after his anti-Muslim tweet from 2015 began to recirculate on the internet, The Guardian reported.

In the tweet, he had said then-presidential-candidate Donald Trump was “100% correct” in stating that "Muslims in Jersey City [were captured by news channels] cheering when [the World Trade Centre] went down. He further claimed that he had seen it himself when, in fact, there is no proof that the celebrations occurred.

The tweet has been widely slammed for spreading Islamophobia. One of Green Book's main financiers Participant Media publicly criticised it as "offensive, dangerous, and antithetical to Participant Media’s values" and said the company "reject it in no uncertain terms.”

Vallelonga has deleted his Twitter account and issued an apology:

“I want to apologize. I spent my life trying to bring this story of overcoming differences and finding common ground to the screen, and I am incredibly sorry to everyone associated with Green Book. I especially deeply apologize to the brilliant and kind Mahershala Ali, and all members of the Muslim faith, for the hurt I have caused. I am also sorry to my late father who changed so much from Dr Shirley’s friendship and I promise this lesson is not lost on me. Green Book is a story about love, acceptance and overcoming barriers, and I will do better.”

Green Book is based on Vallelonga's late father Tony Lip's real-life befriending of black concert pianist Don Shirley.