‘Avengers’ stars sorry for Johansson ‘slut’ gag

Los Angeles: "Avengers" superhero actors Jeremy Renner and Chris Evans apologized Thursday for calling co-star Scarlett Johansson´s character in the blockbuster movie a "slut," saying it was just a tasteless joke.

Renner, who reprises his role as Hawkeye in the sequel "Avengers: Age of Ultron," made the offending comments in a TV interview alongside fellow superhero star Evans, who plays Captain America.

An interviewer asked them what they thought about Johansson´s character, Black Widow, opting not to get together romantically with either of them.

"She´s a slut!" Renner told the Digital Spy interviewer, triggering huge guffaws from Evans, who added: "I was going to say something along that line... a complete whore."

Social media, perhaps inevitably, went ballistic, and on Thursday Renner´s publicist issued an apology on his behalf, saying the actor was simply exhausted from the slog of promoting the new movie.

"I am sorry that this tasteless joke about a fictional character offended anyone. It was not meant to be serious in any way. Just poking fun during an exhausting and tedious press tour," he said.

Evans´ representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in a statement to Entertainment Weekly he said: "We answered in a very juvenile and offensive way that rightfully angered some fans.

"I regret it and sincerely apologize."

The original 2012 "The Avengers" became the third-highest grossing movie in cinema history, taking more than $1.5 billion at the box office, only beaten by "Avatar" (2009) and "Titanic" (1997).

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" comes out in the United States on May 1, after its release around much of the rest of the planet this week. (AFP)