Gere apologises for Shetty kiss

Updated 11.16 Sat Apr 28 2007

Keywords: Shilpa Shetty, Richard Gere, India

Actor Richard Gere has apologised for kissing Shilpa Shetty at an Aids awareness event.

The Hollywood star sparked outrage by locking the Celebrity Big Brother winner in an embrace during the event in India.

He also apologised for any offence he may have caused

Effigies of Gere were burned as protests grew and a flurry of legal complaints ended with a judge in the northwestern city of Jaipur issuing an arrest warrant for the two stars for violating obscenity laws.

Under Indian law, a person convicted of public obscenity faces up to three months in prison, a fine, or both.

In a written statement, Gere said that what was most important to him was that his intentions as an HIV/Aids advocate be made clear and that his friends in India understood it was never his intention to offend them.

He also apologised for any offence he may have caused.

The statement was issued by the Heroes Project, an organisation Gere co-founded to combat Aids in India.