With Daniel Craig recently expressing uncertainty about his future as James Bond, someone close to the franchise has offered his two cents on who could step into the iconic role next — or, rather, who shouldn't. Anthony Horowitz, whose upcoming Trigger Mortis is the latest novel in the series, has revealed that he isn't onboard with Idris Elba playing 007, despite the majority of fans picking him as their favorite candidate for Craig's successor. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Horowitz had this to say: 
 
 "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." 
 
 While he qualifies his reasoning with the caveat that it isn't race-based, his language says otherwise. On Craig, Horowitz has nothing but praise, calling him "a terrific Bond" and Casino Royale a "total return to the gritty seriousness of it." When that same "grit" applies to Elba, however, it's rejected with casually racist generalizations like "street" and "rough," two descriptors Horowitz likely associates with Elba from the actor's acclaimed performances in The Wire and American Gangster. But Horowitz doesn't mind if a black man plays Bond, so long as he's the "right" kind of black. He suggests Adrian Lester, known for his theater work and starring role in the BBC's Hustle, as a better potential Bond, though Horowitz gives no reason why Lester could do better than Elba. And David Oyelowo has been selected to record the audio book for Trigger Mortis, effectively making him the first black Bond, if only in voice. 
 
 Horowitz's problem with Elba isn't that he's too "street" to play 007, it's that he's too black. He drops Caribbean-influenced slang in his cockney accent, raps for fun, and will next play a West African rebel who recruits child soldiers in Cary Fukunaga's Netflix film debut. Elba's also widely regarded as one of the most beautiful men in the world across all races. He recently became the first man to cover Maxim and regularly lands on best-dressed lists — and still, it's not enough for Horowitz, whose most wild assertion might just be that Elba isn't suave enough to play Bond. We hate to break it to him, but no one personifies suave more than Idris. Maybe Horowitz is just too blinded by Elba's blackness to see it? 
 
 Update: Here's Horowitz's apology: ||||| Update: Horowitz took to Twitter Tuesday afternoon to apologize for his comments about Elba, saying he is “mortified to have caused offence.” He attached a full statement to the Tweet: 
 
 In an interview with the Daily Mail published on Aug. 29, Anthony Horowitz, the author commissioned by Ian Fleming’s estate to pen the next James Bond novel, aired his opinion on casting for the next Bond movie. When asked about Idris Elba, a fan favorite for the role, Horowitz responded, “For me, Idris Elba is a bit too rough to play the part. It’s not a colour issue. I think he is probably a bit too ‘street’ for Bond.” He suggested Adrian Lester, the star of the BBC series Hustle, as an alternative. 
 
 In the wake of Horowitz’s remarks, many people took to social media to call his choice of words, and especially the word “street,” racially coded. Some compared the use of “street” to the word “urban,” which is often used to imply blackness in a narrow and sometimes derogatory way. 
 
 Many read it as a way of Horowitz implying that he doesn’t envision a black James Bond, without saying it in so many words. 
 
 Still others simply posted pictures of Elba dressed in dapper attire, confounded at how anyone might consider him anything less than suave. 
 
 Others pointed to a slew of other weaknesses in the anti-Elba argument, namely the fact that the role is that of a white man who regularly kills, that not all of the actors who have played Bond represent the pinnacle of suaveness and that regardless of whether one considers Elba suave or “street,” acting means, well, playing something you’re not. 
 
 Read next: Pierce Brosnan Doesn’t Think Producer Would Allow a Gay James Bond 
 
 Download TIME’s mobile app for iOS to have your world explained wherever you go ||||| Update: 
 
 Horowitz has apologized, is “mortified.” 
 
 Original post: 
 
 Dear Anthony Horowitz, 
 
 We read your interview with The Daily Mail in which you claimed certified Adonis Idris Elba was “too street” to take on the role of James Bond in film. 
 
 Here is exactly what you said, actually: 
 
 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 colour issue. I think he is probably a bit too “street” for Bond. Is it a question of being suave? Yeah. 
 
 Um, we don’t even know how to respond to this insanity, except to blow your code-worded, racist opinion wide open with a few moments of Idris being the suavest, poshest, most Bond-y dude on this planet. 
 
 We are absolutely not here for you. 
 
 Best, 
 
 Everyone with Eyes 
 
 So, was Idris “too street” when he… 
 
 Balled out in a Bentley and popped some champers to celebrate? 
 
 FREAKING CHARMED THE ISH OUT OF A ROYAL?! 
 
 Looked so quintessentially British (and hot) in a newsboy cap? 
 
 Looked so quintessentially British (and hot and Bond-like) in a tight sweater and Ray-Bans? 
 
 Earned his ‘Father of Year’ stripes for bringing his daughter as his Oscars date? 
 
 Redefined what we thought we knew about handsome men in tuxedos? #Yowza 
 
 Accepted a humanitarian award with a humble smile? 
 
 Intensely stared into your Haterade-sipping face as he wondered, ‘Do you even lift, bro?’
– There have been many calls for a black James Bond, and for a while, there were even rumors Idris Elba would take on the 007 role. (Rumors Elba himself shot down earlier this year.) But at least one prominent person in the Bond universe doesn't think that's a good idea. Anthony Horowitz, author of the new Bond novel Trigger Mortis—officially commissioned by Ian Fleming's estate—says in an extensive interview with the Daily Mail, "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." He adds that there are "other black actors who would do it better," like Adrian Lester. Sample reaction: "Apparently, there’s no way for Elba, an actor whose literal job it is to assume characters’ personalities that are not his own, to appear 'suave' enough to play Bond." Dan Van Winkle, The Mary Sue "Hold on, WHAT?!" USA Today headline On Vulture, Dee Lockett calls Horowitz's reasoning "casually racist," noting, "Horowitz doesn't mind if a black man plays Bond, so long as he's the 'right' kind of black." The Telegraph rounds up a number of outraged Twitter reactions, including this: "Are you kidding me? HAVE YOU SEEN THAT MAN IN A SUIT? HAVE YOU SEEN THAT MAN?" The world is, however, kind of already getting its first black Bond.