Director Oliver Stone tells the latest Men’s Journal that when actors Jeffrey Wright (above), Josh Brolin and a few crew members off the set of “W,” Stone’s controversial new biopic about the current president, were involved in a July bar brawl in Louisiana, race was definitely a factor in the flying fists.

Wright, who portrays Gen. Colin Powell in “W,” has maintained his innocence in the fracas and now Stone suggests the fight started after a barman took a dislike to Wright.

“I saw Jeffrey being arrested,” Stone tells Men’s Journal. “I guarantee you, that man was not drunk, and he was not disorderly… There was a white bartender who had taken a dislike to him a few days prior and he’s (Wright) not going to take s**t from anybody.

“He was escorted out of the bar and treated in a rough manner by these policemen. That’s when Josh and his group went out to protest… The cops said, ‘Step back, sir!’ Josh said, ‘Sir, why are you arresting him?’ and then, boom, (they) maced him in the eyes. They tasered Jeffrey twice.”

Stone admits to never lifting a hand in Wright’s defense that night, claiming fear of his own arrest. Shreveport police supposedly conducted a formal investigation and, to the surprise of no one, decided the local authorities had done nothing wrong.