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David O. Russell backtracks his comment that compares Jennifer Lawrence's role in "The Hunger Games" movies to slavery. "Clearly I used a stupid analogy in a poor attempt at humor," the director says as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter. "I realized it the minute I said it, and I am truly sorry."

Russell who directed Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook" and "American Hustle" slammed "The Hunger Games" producers for overworking the Oscar winner. It reportedly took her the second half of 2013 to promote "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" before she was able to focus on "Hustle".

"I personally think they should give her a bit of breathing room over there because they're printing money," he told The New York Daily News' Confidenti@l. "But she's a very alive person." He went on, "I'll tell you what it is about that girl - talk about 12 years of slavery, that's what the franchise is."

Lawrence is currently busy finishing "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1" and "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2" which are filmed back to back for November 21, 2014 and November 20, 2015 releases respectively. She is also expected to be involved in promoting "X-Men: Days of Future Past" due May 23 this year.