CAIRO (AFP) - The publisher of EgyptAir's in-flight magazine apologised on Tuesday (Oct 9) over an article on US actress Drew Barrymore, which caused a furore online over its bizarre content.

Horus magazine published what it called an interview with Barrymore that opened with a commentary on her private life, and her apparent responses raised eyebrows both for their content and poor English.

A spokesman for Barrymore told the Huffington Post website last week that the actress "did not participate" in the interview, but EgyptAir stood by the article.

The actress' team said it was in touch with the airline and on Tuesday the publishing house behind the magazine, Ahram Advertising Agency, issued an explanation of the affair.

"We apologise for any misunderstanding that might be interpreted as an offence to the great artist," it said in a statement.

The agency said the interview was conducted in English by its Hollywood reporter, Aida Tekla, before being translated into Arabic and subsequently back into English.

Barrymore's team agreed to the interview with Tekla "not knowing" that the journalist worked for the in-flight magazine as well as other publications, Ahram Advertising Agency said.

The firm said it was "about to investigate" the sourcing of the article and the translator used to write the English version.

Addressing the widely criticised introduction to the article, the publishing house said it had been penned by one of the magazine's editors.

The opening lines of article suggest Barrymore had been "unstable in her relationships most of her life" and that she had been in "almost 17 relationships, engagements and marriages".

"Psychologists believe that her behaviour is only natural since she lacked the male role model in her life," it says.