Seth MacFarlane’s film drew protestations from an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) support group last week because of a line that seemed to treat the disease as a laughing matte
In the scene in question, Mark Wahlberg’s character tells Joel McHale’s character: “From one man to another, I hope you get Lou Gehrig’s disease.”
“I just heard that for the first time, I had no idea,” Wahlberg said during an interview for The Tommy Show on 94.7 Fresh FM. “It wasn’t our intention to offend anybody.”
“Seth wrote the material, so you gotta take it up with him first of all, and second of all I didn’t know anything about it.”
Wahlberg has previously said that he “enjoyed looking stupid” in the film, which sees him play a man whose teddy bear has been his closest friend since it came to life during his childhood.
Ted is out now in the US, and will be released on August 1 in the UK.
