Spielberg 'aware of Tintin controversy'

A representative of Steven Spielberg has said that the director is aware of accusations of racism and anti-Semitism in original Tintin comics.

Out next month, new biography Hergé: The Man Who Created Tintin notes that early editions of The Shooting Star portrayed a negative Jewish stereotype, while the UK's Commission for Racial Equality called for the allegedly racist Tintin In The Congo to be withdrawn from sale in 2007.

Representative Marvin Levy told the New York Post that Spielberg was "very much aware" of the controversy surrounding the comics before directing the upcoming movie adaptation.

He added: "Some of the early drawings were bad, but we're talking about 50 or 60 years ago when the world was very different."

Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League said: "Unfortunately many creative people were infected by the disease of anti-Semitism, but it didn't overtake [Hergé].

"Most people know Tintin not about the anti-Semitism, but for his many adventures. It's a blemish in [Hergé's] character, but not enough for the people to want to throw away everything he's created."