Idris Elba 'Too Street' to Play James Bond? '007' Author Anthony Horowitz Apologizes After Comment

007 writer Anthony Horowitz apologizes over Twitter after calling Idris Elba as "too street" to portray his ideal James Bond.

Elba, the actor who played aspiring businessman and drug lord Russell "Stringer" Bell in HBO's "The Wire," immediately became a trending topic in Twitter over the weekend after the James Bond writer made his statement.

In an interview with the Daily Mail UK, Horowitz expressed his love for Daniel Craig's version of the popular English spy as well as his doubts that the "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" star is perfect for the task.

"Idris Elba is a terrific actor, but I can think of other black actors who would do it better. For me, Idris Elba is a bit too rough to play the part. It's not a color issue. I think he is probably a bit too 'street' for Bond. Is it a question of being suave? Yeah," the outlet quoted him saying.

This statement immediately started a wildfire in the form of meme showing a black-and-white image of the actor sporting some suave-looking outfits over the microblogging platform captioned: "'Too Street' starter pack."

Twitter user Patrick Lucas Austin, the person who posted the memes, also quoted Horowitz's statement and expressed his thoughts about it: "'It's not about race, you're just too rough,' a white person says to Idris Elba, a man born in a three-piece suit."

After realizing what just happened, the 007 writers immediately apologized to the actor, coursing his statement through Twitter.

"I'm really sorry my comments about Idris Elba have caused offence. That wasn't my intention," he stated, adding that he merely answered a question in his honest opinion as a writer.

"In the article, I expressed my opinion that to my mind Adrian Lester would be a better choice but I'm a writer not a casting director so what do I know?" he explained, noting that his 'clumsy' choice of the word 'street' was based on Elba's "gritty" portrayal of DCI's John Luther.

"I am mortified to have caused offence," his statement concluded.

Finally, on Tuesday, Elba expressed his thoughts on the issue via Instagram.

"Always Keep Smiling!! It takes no energy and never hurts!  Learned that from the Street!!" he captioned a snapshot of an article about Horowitz's apology with a hashtag "septemberstillloveyou."

His fans also expressed their support for him by commenting on this post, with some even lauding him for his "great work" and acknowledging that he would be perfect for the role.

"Personally I think you would be a great Bond. I definitely don't see you as 'street,' and I think that's a very unintelligent way of describing a person. While I'm glad he apologized, he shouldn't have said it in the first place," Instagram user @scaredseal.shaquilleoneal wrote.