Danish director, Lars von Trier has received the boot, Cannes lowest honor, for jokingly calling himself a Nazi. He may have thought the joke was silly; however the Cannes board did not, and wasted little time in expelling him from the festival.

After launching into an account of his Jewish and German heritage during a press conference, and stating that he is a Hitler sympathizer, the board publically condemned his comments.

The board of directors . . . declares Lars Von Trier persona non grata at the Festival de Cannes, with effect immediately, organizers said in a statement today.

During the conference, Von Trier stated, I think I understand the man [Hitler], Von Trier said.

He's not what you would call a good guy, but I understand much about him and I sympathize with him a little bit. But come on, I'm not for the Second World War, and I'm not against Jews.

As Cannes says au revoir to Von Trier, Jewish communities applaud their decision.

According to Reuters, The organizers of the Cannes film festival have eloquently taken a determined moral stand against cavalier expressions of hate and insensitivity to those brutalized by the Nazis -- Jew and non-Jew, said the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants' vice president, Elan Steinberg.

Von Trier was at Cannes promoting his film 'Melancholia,' starring Kirsten Dunst.

READ MORE ABOUT LARS VON TRIER AND HIS CONTROVERSIAL CAREER

WATCH RELATED VIDEO OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE:

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