--- description: "I regret having made these comments, and apologize to all" title: John Grisham Apologizes for Child Porn Remarks image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a52a2c461714742/69876103cd1bbaf6966f2a80/john-grisham1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # John Grisham Apologizes for Child-Porn Remarks  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 16, 2014 4:38 PM CUT  John Grisham speaks during a television interview in New York in 2012. John Grisham speaks during a television interview in New York in 2012.Scott Eells—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 16, 2014 4:38 PM CUT Best-selling author John Grisham [has apologized](http://www.jgrisham.com/a-statement-from-john-grisham-2/ "undefined") for remarks he made [criticizing harsh punishments](http://time.com/3511499/john-grisham-child-porn/ "undefined") for people convicted of watching child pornography. “Anyone who harms a child for profit or pleasure, or who in any way participates in child pornography—online or otherwise—should be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” Grisham said in a statement on his website Thursday. “My comments made two days ago during an interview with the British newspaper _The Telegraph_ were in no way intended to show sympathy for those convicted of sex crimes, especially the sexual molestation of children. I can think of nothing more despicable.” Grisham previously told the paper that there were men in prison who [“probably had too much to drink”](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11165656/John-Grisham-men-who-watch-child-porn-are-not-all-paedophiles.html "undefined") and “got online one night” and stumbled onto child pornography. He said a similar situation happened to a “good buddy from law school.” “I have no sympathy for real paedophiles,” he told _The Telegraph_. “God, please lock those people up. But so many of these guys do not deserve harsh prison sentences, and that’s what they’re getting.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3513317/john-grisham-apology/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3513317/john-grisham-apology/"},"headline":"John Grisham Apologizes for Child-Porn Remarks","datePublished":"2014-10-16T16:38:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:50:11.483Z","description":"\"I regret having made these comments, and apologize to all\"","url":"https://time.com/3513317/john-grisham-apology/","keywords":["celebrities","Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a52a2c461714742/69876103cd1bbaf6966f2a80/john-grisham1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a52a2c461714742/69876103cd1bbaf6966f2a80/john-grisham1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Author John Grisham Interview","caption":"John Grisham speaks during a television interview in New York in 2012.","creditText":"Scott Eells—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3513317/john-grisham-apology/","name":"John Grisham Apologizes for Child-Porn Remarks"}}]}] ```