Remembering Mark Wahlberg's controversial 9/11 comments on cheating death

Actor Mark Wahlberg caused outrage following the attacks on Sept. 11 when he made comments years later about one of the doomed flights.

Wahlberg was supposed to be on board American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, but, at the last minute, he changed his flight to attend a film festival with friends in Toronto.

Years later, Wahlberg made headlines after he seemed to insinuate that had he been on board, the attack would never have happened.

"If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn't have went down like it did," he said to Men's Journal in their February 2012 issue. "There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, 'OK, we're going to land somewhere safely, don't worry.'"

After the backlash, Wahlberg apologized to the families of the victims in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"To speculate about such a situation is ridiculous to begin with, and to suggest I would have done anything differently than the passengers on that plane was irresponsible," he said. "I deeply apologize to the families of the victims that my answer came off as insensitive, it was certainly not my intention."

Wahlberg made similar comments in 2006 when discussing his near-death experience, according to the Reporter.

"We certainly would have tried to do something to fight," he said. "I've had probably over 50 dreams about it."

Cox Media Group