Washington then went on to describe the traits of the character and his understanding of Frost. "There's a book I read called 'The Sociopath Next Door.' It really became sort of the bible for me when developing this character. I think he is a sociopath. I think he doesn't have a conscience. I think he's an atheist and a murderer and a liar," the actor said adding with a chuckle, "Perfect material for a C.I.A. agent."
The character description offended some who said that Washington was purposefully linking atheists and sociopaths. The Examiner published an article titled "Denzel Washington Associates Atheists with Sociopaths." Users on the Examiner blog had mixed responses. Some compared his statements to that of Mel Gibson, who was accused of being anti-Semitic and stated that they would no longer watch Denzel Washington films due to the offensive remark.
However others suggested that linking the comment was a stretch. "I think this is way over blown. He is describing his character. There are atheist nut jobs out there just like there are religious nut jobs. In other words, the actions this character is committing is not due to some belief in God, but due to some other sociopath traits," Christopher Lewis wrote.
Jennifer Murray also suggested that the negative comments were based on reading the article without watching the actual video of Denzel Washington's interview. "Wondering if everyone commenting on this actually watched the interview itself... I think that a controversy is being created here where none exist. I didn't come to the same conclusion watching the video," she wrote.
Thomas B. Settle had more serious accusations. "This is shoddy journalism at best, defamation at worst. Did you even bother reading the quote you provided?" Settle asked. "He states that is how he would describe a character. To all those who are jumping down Denzels throat, instead of just reading the title. (Made purely to grab hits), read what is actually written."