Samantha Bee is going full mea culpa—sort of.
In her Wednesday episode of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, the comedian addressed the controversy surrounding her use of the term “feckless c***” to describe first daughter Ivanka Trump last week.
Bee’s straight-to-camera was not the first time she had apologized. Last Thursday, a day after the segment aired, Bee tweeted, “I would like to sincerely apologize to Ivanka Trump and to my viewers for using an expletive on my show to describe her last night. It was inappropriate and inexcusable. I crossed a line, and I deeply regret it.”
I would like to sincerely apologize to Ivanka Trump and to my viewers for using an expletive on my show to describe her last night. It was inappropriate and inexcusable. I crossed a line, and I deeply regret it.
— Samantha Bee (@iamsambee) May 31, 2018
The apology must not have been adequate, however, as a number of companies pulled their advertisements from her show. That President Trump called on TBS to fire Bee—deeming it a “double standard” after Roseanne Barr’s show was canceled following a number of racist remarks—likely did not help the comedian’s efforts.
On Wednesday, Bee’s nearly two minute apology came before the show’s opening credits. Referring to her use of the epithet, Bee said she “regretted” it, saying that she understands that many women do not “want that word reclaimed.”
“I don’t want to inflict more pain on them,” she continued. “I want this show to be challenging and I want it to be honest, but I never intended it to hurt anyone, except Ted Cruz. Many men were also offended by my use of the word. I do not care about that.”
Bee also expressed regret that her language took away from the issue at hand—juvenile immigration policy, saying, “I should have known that a potty-mouthed insult would be inherently more interesting to them than juvenile immigration policy. I would do anything to help those kids. I hate that this distracted from them, so to them, I am also sorry.”
Later in the episode, Bee made light of the situation, saying, “Sorry for breaking America?”
“Listen I wanted to introduce to some exciting new additions to our show,” she added. “These are our mandatory censors who will be with us from now on.”