Matt Damon has apologized for controversial comments he made on his filmmaker-search reality series "Project Greenlight"—that diversity only matters in front of the camera.

“I believe deeply that there need to be more diverse filmmakers making movies," the mea culpa began.

"My comments were part of a much broader conversation about diversity in Hollywood and the fundamental nature of 'Project Greenlight' which did not make the show," the Oscar winner said in a statement. "I am sorry that they offended some people, but, at the very least, I am happy that they started a conversation about diversity in Hollywood. That is an ongoing conversation that we all should be having."

Damon ignited a firestorm of discussion on Twitter branded with the hashtag "#Damonsplaining" after an episode of his HBO series aired Sunday in which he explained his opinions on how diversity should work in show business.

“When we’re talking about diversity, you do it in the casting of the film, not in the casting of the show,” Damon said to Effie Brown, a black female producer who appeared alongside him as a panelist on the HBO program.

Brown, who has produced more than 17 feature films, including “Dear White People,” appeared to be gobsmacked by his response, commenting: “Wow, okay.”

“Project Greenlight,” now in its fourth season, is Damon and Ben Affleck’s reality competition series that awards $3 million to a filmmaker to direct a feature film. Writers, producers and directors join the duo in narrowing down the finalists who will helm the project.

Brown, the lone female and black person in the room, points out to Damon and her fellow panelists, that they should consider more diverse directors for a film of which its lead character, a black female, is “a hooker who gets hit by her white pimp.”

But Damon insisted in a separate confessional interview that such a consideration “would undermine what the competition was supposed to be about, which is about giving somebody this job based entirely on merit and leaving all other factors out of it.”