Jackie Chan to U.S.: 'It's not me. It's you'

(CNBC) — Jackie Chan may have stirred up a maelstrom in the US, but in Asia, he’s laughing all the way to the bank.

Last month, the 58-year-old action star claimed in an interview that the US is “the most corrupt” country in the world, and argued that Chinese citizens should keep criticisms of their country to themselves.

“If you talk about corruption, the entire world, the America, has no corruption? [It is] the most corrupt in the world,” he said in a Dec. 13 broadcast on Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV.

When the comments spread to the American press last week, they sparked widespread controversy.