Bill Maher makes on-air apology for racial slur, says Kathy Griffin 'owes me a fruit basket for keeping her off the front page'

— -- Bill Maher on Friday night hosted the first episode of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" since using a racial slur during an interview last week with Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska).

The polarizing comedian and talk show host issued an apology last Saturday, but Friday's show marked his first on-air apology.

"I did a bad thing," he said to guest Michael Eric Dyson, an author and a professor at Georgetown University. "For black folks, that word, I don't care who you are, it's caused pain. It doesn't matter that it was not said in malice, it caused pain and that's why I apologized. I'm not that big of an a******."

He continued, "We're all evolving. Yes, it was wrong and I own up to that. It happened, and it was wrong. People make mistakes, we're all sinners."

Maher said such controversy isn't uncommon for him as a comedian. "I'm just a product of the country, but I don't want to pretend that this is more of a race thing than a comedian thing," he said. "We are a trained thing that tries to get a laugh. That's what we do. That's what we're always thinking. This is not the first time this has happened -- the first time on this subject -- but not the first time I've got in trouble in private, as well as in public, because that's what comedians are somehow wired to do ... We want to make people laugh ... Sometimes we transgress a sensitivity point."

He then discussed fellow comedian Kathy Griffin, who also came under fire recently, for posing with a fake bloodied, severed Donald Trump head.

"I mean, my friend Kathy Griffin, who by the way, owes me a fruit basket for keeping her off the front page," he said. "But there is a similarity there ... As much as I hate Trump, that’s wrong. You don’t do that to whoever the president is, but she was going for a laugh, and I understand that. We do sometimes cross the line."

Both Maher and HBO quickly apologized for the incident in statements released last weekend.

HBO said Maher's use of the racial slur was "completely inexcusable and tasteless." The cable network added, "We are removing his deeply offensive comment from any subsequent airings of the show."

And in his own statement, Maher said, "Friday nights are always my worst night of sleep because I’m up reflecting on the things I should or shouldn’t have said on my live show. Last night was a particularly long night as I regret the word I used in the banter of a live moment. The word was offensive and I regret saying it and am very sorry."