Begin Again director John Carney has apologised for "petty, mean and hurtful" comments he made about actress Keira Knightley.
Carney posted his apology on his official Twitter account.
He tweeted: "From a director who feels like a complete idiot."
The tweet was accompanied by a long post outlining his controversial interview with the Independent, which was published last weekend.
Carney had been quoted as sayng: "I'll never make a film with supermodels again."
This comment was taken as a reference to Knightley, who had starred in Begin Again alongside Mark Ruffalo and Adam Levine from Maroon 5.
In his explanation posted on social media, Carney said he was "ashamed" and had written to Knightley "personally to apologise".
"I said a number of things about Keira which were petty, mean and hurtful," he said.
"I'm ashamed of myself that I could say such things and I've been trying to account for what they say about me.
"In trying to pick holes in my own work, I ended up blaming someone else.
"That's not only bad directing, that's shoddy behaviour that I am not in any way proud of. It's arrogant and disrespectful," he said.
Carney, a former bassist for Irish band The Frames, went on to pay tribute to the 31-year-old actress.
"Keira was nothing but professional and dedicated during that film and she contributed hugely to its success," he said.
"I wrote to Keira personally to apologise, but I wanted to publicly, and unreservedly apologise to her fans and friends and anyone else who I have offended."
He concluded: "It's not something that I could ever justify, and will never repeat."
During his interview published on May 28, Carney had discussed his recent film Sing Street, describing it as "a small personal movie with no Keira Knightleys in it."
In the wake of his initial comments, a number of film-makers tweeted their support of Knightley.
Mark Romanek, who directed the London-born star in Never Let Me Go, said: "My experience with keiraknightley was utterly spectacular on every level.
"I have no clue what this guy is talking about. arrogants**thead."