Samantha Bee has apologized for calling Ivanka Trump a “feckless c–t” on Wednesday’s episode of “Full Frontal.”
“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,” Bee said in a statement on Thursday. “It was inappropriate and inexcusable. I crossed a line, and I deeply regret it.”
Bee has faced mounting criticism for the joke, which was made as part of the opening monologue for Wednesday night’s show. The line was used as part of a broader criticism of the first daughter for her failure to stop her father’s immigration policies.
“Let me just say, one mother to another, do something about your dad’s immigration practices you feckless c–t!” said Bee. “He listens to you. Put on something tight and low cut and tell your father to f—ing stop it. Tell him it was an Obama thing and see how it goes.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders condemned Bee on Thursday, calling her language “vile and vicious.”
“Her disgusting comments and show are not fit for broadcast, and executives at Time Warner and TBS must demonstrate that such explicit profanity about female members of this administration will not be condoned on its network,” Sanders said in a statement.
TBS backed Bee’s apology in its own statement, admitting that the insult “should not have been aired.
“Samantha Bee has taken the right action in apologizing for the vile and inappropriate language she used about Ivanka Trump last night. Those words should not have been aired,” the network said. “It was our mistake too, and we regret it.”
Bee has already faced some consequences for the insult, with at least one sponsor announcing that it would pull its advertising from “Full Frontal” in protest.
The remarks from Bee came just one day after ABC canceled “Roseanne” in response to an offensive tweet from star Roseanne Barr. The show was axed by the Disney-owned network despite her decision to delete the tweet and offer a swift apology.
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