He composed a sincere apology.
Oscar-winning makeup artist Kazu Hiro apologized Saturday after the prosthetic nose he created for the upcoming Leonard Bernstein biopic, “Maestro,” caused a crescendo of online backlash — with several users calling the nose a first-rate example of “Jewface,” reports Deadline.
“I wasn’t expecting it to occur,” Hiro, 54, told press on the Venice Film Festival of the accusations of antisemitism. “I feel sorry if I hurt some people’s feelings. I desired to portray Lenny as real as possible.”
“He’s photogenic and an ideal person, we desired to respect and love that look,” continued the two-time Oscar winner. “We did several different tests. That was our [only] intention.”
When contacted Sunday by The Post, Hiro reiterated that he was sorry if he hurt anyone’s feelings.
“Maestro” — which garnered a 7-minute standing ovation on the festival — tells the “fearless love story” of the legendary “West Side Story” composer, played by Bradley Cooper, 48, who is just not Jewish, and his wife, Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (Carey Mulligan, 38).
The film has been heavily scrutinized because the debut of its first trailer, depicting Bernstein with a wildly exaggerated nose. Cooper can be directing.
“If Bradley Cooper is in a position to play the Elephant Man with none prosthetics, he should have the opportunity to play a Jewish man with none need for prosthetics — especially a ‘Jewish’ nose,” Jewish actress Tracy-Ann Oberman, 57, told Page Six.
“If he must wear a prosthetic nose, then that’s, to me and lots of others, the equivalent of Black-Face or Yellow-Face.”
The trailer continued to play a sour note on X (formerly Twitter), where several fans argued that the nose alternative stinks.
“Just looked up an image of the actual Leonard Bernstein…. the massive antisemitic prosthetic nose on Bradley Cooper was definitely not vital,” posted one offended user.
“Bradley Cooper still isn’t Jewish and he’s wearing a prosthetic nose that doesn’t even appear to be Bernstein’s nose and similar to some stereotype,” tweeted one other incensed person. “He’s using this bulls–t to win an Oscar.”
Coming to the A-lister’s defense, Bernstein’s children — who attended the film’s premiere Saturday — stated their support for Cooper’s portrayal of their father, who died in 1990.
“We were touched to the core to witness the depth of his commitment, his loving embrace of our father’s music, and the sheer open-hearted joy he dropped at his exploration,” Jamie, Alexander, and Nina Bernstein said in an announcement shared on social media last month.
“It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of his efforts. It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a pleasant, big nose. Bradley selected to make use of makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fantastic with that.”
The statement continues that they consider that if their father was alive today, he “would have been fantastic with it as well.”
“Maestro” is keyed up for a Dec. 20 release on Netflix following a transient theatrical run.
