Kevin Smith Apologizes To Bruce Willis For Making Rude Comments After 'Cop Out'

Kevin Smith, who directed Bruce Willis in the movie "Cop Out," shared his apology on Twitter following Willis' announcement to retire from acting. Smith publicly slammed Willis in 2011, one year after the action-comedy movie was released.

The 51-year-old director revealed that he was a huge fan of the 67-year-old actor and learning about his health condition due to which he is retiring is "heartbreaking."

"Long before any of the Cop Out stuff, I was a big Bruce Willis fan - so this is really heartbreaking to read," Smith wrote. "He loved to act and sing and the loss of that has to be devastating for him."

"I feel like an a-shole for my petty complaints from 2010. So sorry to BW [Bruce Willis] and his family," he added.

Speaking on the "WTF with Marc Maron" podcast in 2011, Smith noted that it was "difficult" and "soul-crushing" to work with Willis.

"It was difficult," Smith told the host. "I’ve never been involved in a situation like that where one component is not in the box at all. It was f--king soul-crushing. I mean, a lot of people are gonna be like, ‘Oh, you’re just trying to blame the movie on him.’ No, but I had no f--king help from this dude whatsoever."

On the other hand, Smith said that it was easy to work with actor Tracy Morgan, who portrayed Paul Hodges in the movie.

"Tracy Morgan, I would lay down in traffic for. Were it not for Tracy, I might’ve killed myself or someone else in the making of that movie," he said at that time.

Willis' 33-year-old daughter Rumer announced the actor's aphasia diagnosis on Instagram on Wednesday. Willis' wife Emma Heming Willis also shared the same announcement on her Instagram account, noting that he is "stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him."

On the work front, Smith's upcoming projects include "Clerks III," "Killroy Was Here," "Twilight of the Mallrats," "Sam and Twitch," "Moose Jaws" and "Helena Handbag."

Willis, on the other hand, will be next seen in the movies like "Vendetta" and "Fortress: Sniper's Eye." The filming of these movies has been completed.