Eric Roberts publicly apologizes to his sister, Julia Robertsbecause of the claim that he had made her famous.

The 68-year-old actor took responsibility for the “idiotic” comments he’s made over the years in his new memoir, Runaway Train: Or the Story of My Life So Far.

“One of the things I want to apologize for in this book is that I have said publicly more than once, ‘If it weren’t for me, there would be no Julia Roberts,’” an excerpt from the book reads via Entertainment weekly. “That’s not only unfortunate, it’s untrue. And I hope Julie will accept this more public apology. It was an idiotic thing to say. I was proud of her, but it was pride in its face, for my own benefit.” (He also shared what his family calls the Oscar winner Julie.)

Eric, whose daughter is an actress Emma Robertsadded that Julia, 56, is “very driven” and destined for greatness. “Someone would have picked her out of the crowd in a place like New York without my help,” he said.

Although he retracted his earlier statements, the Academy Award nominee appeared to take credit for bringing Julia and their two other sisters to New York, where he said Julia caught the acting bug.

“Then she saw, I guess, my life as a young actor in New York, and she saw what I was doing to make a living, and she wanted to try it,” he claimed.

In an interview with Vanity Fair In 2018, Eric took credit for Julia and his daughter Emma’s, 33, success.

“If I hadn’t been there, Julia Roberts and Emma Roberts wouldn’t be there as celebrities, as actresses, and I’m very proud of that,” he told the outlet. “When Julia first came to New York, I went to William Morris and I said, ‘Who’s going to draw my sister Julia?'”

He then added: “And I’m so proud that everyone knows that I was the first, because I was by far the first. I was the first to be nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award, so I’m proud of that.”

Eric wrote in his memoir how he lost custody of Emma because of his drug use. He shares the American horror story star with ex Kelly Cuningham.

As for his relationship with Julia, the siblings were estranged for years; however, Eric told Vanity Fair in 2018 that the couple are “email friends” and claimed they spent a few Thanksgiving days together.

Despite mending broken fences, Eric revealed during an appearance on the “Still Here Hollywood” podcast in July that he can’t talk about his sister or daughter in public.

“You’ll have to ask her,” Eric said when asked how Julia was doing. “I love my sister, but I can’t talk about her. She doesn’t want to talk about it.”

He added: “My daughter told me not to talk about her, but I stumble and do it anyway. I’m not supposed to talk about either of them. But I do.”

Julia made her big screen debut in 1988 Satisfactionwho she succeeded with Mystical pizza that same year. She was nominated for her first Oscar in 1990 for her role in Steel Magnoliasand a decade later, Julia won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2001 for Erin Brockovich.

As for his career, Eric received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 1985 Runaway trainand has made over 800 acting appearances to date, including a lead role in the TV series Less than perfect. He also appeared in The Consumers as James Munroe.