Monday, February 23, 2015 12:50pm ET by  
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'Birdman' director Alejandro González Iñárritu thought Sean Penn's green card joke was 'very funny'

Actor Sean Penn caused controversy at last night's Academy Awards when presenting the Best Picture prize to Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu for 'Birdman', as he announced the win by asking the audience, "who gave this son of a bitch a green card?"

González Iñárritu has now revealed that he wasn't at all offended by the jibe because he has previously worked with Penn ('21 Grams') and they have the kind of friendship where the banter is very edgy. He joked to Variety magazine that he "found it hilarious."

Iñárritu said: "Sean and I had that kind of brutal relationship where only true friendship can survive. When I was directing him in '21 Grams', he was always making jokes... I made a lot of very tough jokes (to him) that I will not tell you. I didn't find it offensive. I thought it was very funny."

During his acceptance speech, Iñárritu explained: "I want to take one second... I just want to take the opportunity... I want to dedicate this award for my fellow Mexicans, the ones who live in Mexico. I pray that we can find and build government that we deserve. And the ones that live in this country who are part of the latest generation of immigrants in this country, I just pray that they can be treated with the same dignity and respect of the ones who came before and build this incredible immigrant nation. Thank you very much."

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Watch the much talked about moment unfold below: