Johnny Depp has made a formal apology after alluding to a Donald Trump assassination at the Glastonbury festival.

“I apologize for the bad joke I attempted last night in poor taste about President Trump,” the actor said in a statement issued to People. “It did not come out as intended, and I intended no malice. I was only trying to amuse, not to harm anyone.”

The comments came about when the actor introduced his 2004 film The Libertine at a screening on Friday during the Glastonbury festival. He jokingly asked the crowd, “Can you bring Trump here?” The audience jeered and shouted no back, to which Depp responded, “No, no, no, you misunderstood completely. I think he needs … help.”

“When was the last time an actor assassinated a president?” he said, alluding to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination at a theater by John Wilkes Booth, an actor.

The gathered audience responded positively to Depp and erupted in applause. 

The White House was not too pleased with his remark and they issued a statement: 

“President Trump has condemned violence in all forms and it’s sad that others like Johnny Depp have not followed his lead,” it reads. “I hope that some of Mr. Depp’s colleagues will speak out against this type of rhetoric as strongly as they would if his comments were directed to a Democrat elected official.”

Threatening the president is a crime under US law, and, with what is happening in the world today, any such threat — even one made in a joking manner — is often taken seriously by law enforcement.

The agency that handles the security of the US President, the Secret Service has issued a statement saying that it “is aware of the comments in question,” but “for security reasons,” they cannot discuss specifics on how they go about their security procedures.

Johnny Depp is not the first high profile celebrity to have made such a remark regarding Trump. Madonna had said in a rally that she had “thought about blowing up the White House.” Meanwhile, Robert De Niro had said that “he’d like to punch [Donald Trump] in the face”.

Other celebrities have chosen music or visuals to get their point across. Snoop Dogg made a video of himself shooting a clown that looks similar to Trump, while Carly Simon altered her song “You’re So Vain” to criticize the US President, and Will I.am made a song and video called “Grab ‘m by the P~#y”.