Jim Carrey hits back after he's criticised for telling a female reporter she's on his 'bucket list'

Jim Carrey is firing back — through his publicist — after sparking backlash for a recent interview with a female reporter some deemed inappropriate. During a press junket with Heat magazine's Charlotte Long, the Sonic the Hedgehog star said she's the only thing left on his "bucket list."

He was blasted as a "sleazeball" on social media.

"In the film, Sonic has a bucket list, I was wondering, after all you've done in your career and in your life, is there anything still left on your bucket list?" Long asked.

"Just you," Carrey responded. "That's it, it's all done now."

"I don't know what to say to that," Long laughed.

"Just own it," Carrey replied.

The exchange quickly went viral, but Carrey's rep says he was not referring to the journalist herself with his answer.

"This is a ridiculous non-story. Jim’s full quote was 'Just you! That’s it, I’m all done now!' clearly and good-naturedly referring to the interview as being on the top of his bucket list," his publicist tells Yahoo Entertainment.

"It was in no way a reference to the journalist herself. This is another example of a clickbait headline pandering to the dark side of 'scroll culture' — a dirty business done by and for people with dirty minds."

Read more: Fans go crazy for Carrey’s Globes skit

Long hasn't publicly weighed in. After being caught off guard by his response, she continued the interview.

"What's been your best bucket list moment in your life, when you look back as something you always wanted to achieve and you did it, and you think, 'Wow! I can't believe I did it,'" she asked.

"There's so many things," Carrey replied. "Honest to God they just keep coming. I mean, I asked early on for a lot. I made myself a $10 million check for services that would one day be rendered and that came true. I asked to do the kind of roles that keep reintroducing themselves to new generations of people and that came true. You know, I'm just constantly pinching myself, I'm black and blue."

Watch the whole exchange below. The exchange in question occurs around the 1:40 mark:

Sonic The Hedgehog is in cinemas now.