Samantha Bee addresses Ivanka Trump insult at awards show: 'I should probably have a filter'
"I should probably have a filter," the comedian said Thursday night.
"Full Frontal" host Samantha Bee is sorry/not sorry for calling Ivanka Trump a "feckless c---" during her show broadcast earlier this week.
At a podium accepting an award from the Television Academy in Hollywood, Bee addressed the incident for which she received a storm of backlash.
"Every week, I strive to show the world as I see it, unfiltered. Sometimes I should probably have a filter," she said Thursday night. "I accept that. I take it seriously when I get it right and I do take responsibility when I get it wrong."
Bee, 48, regretted that "lost in the repercussions over one bad word" was the fate of "1,500 missing migrant children."
During the segment, Bee implored Ivanka Trump to persuade her father, President Donald Trump, to change his immigration policies. The comedian joined the chorus of critics against the Trump administration's policy of separating parents and children who have tried to enter the United States without proper documentation.
While her show initially placed the blame for that squarely on Trump's administration, Bee on Thursday laid the blame on "past administrations" for immigration policies that can see families separated during attempts to cross the border illegally.
"Sometimes even the ones who look best in swim trunks do bad jobs with things," she added, referring to President Barack Obama.
Instead of focusing on the slur, Bee said, "We all should have spent the day incensed that as a nation we are wrenching children from their parents and treating people legally seeking asylum as criminals. If we are OK with that then really, who are we?"
During her show's segment, Bee referenced a photo Ivanka Trump shared to Instagram several days ago, showing her holding her young son. Bee slammed the first daughter, who works in the White House, as "oblivious."
"You know, Ivanka, that's a beautiful photo of you and your child, but let me just say, one mother to another, do something about your dad's immigration practices," she continued. "Put on something tight and low-cut and tell your father to f------ stop it. Tell him it was an Obama thing and see how it goes."
She later tweeted an apology, writing, "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."
Ivanka Trump, 36, has not responded to Bee's comments or her apology, though White House press secretary Sarah Sanders addressed the controversy on Thursday, calling Bee's language "vile and vicious."
Bee's insult led to outrage online, even among some fans, and prompted some sponsors to flee her TBS show.
Lesley Messer contributed to this report.
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