'I Should Probably Have A Filter,' Samantha Bee Tells Audience In Accepting Award After Ivanka Trump Insult
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA/AP) -- Samantha Bee is apologizing for referring to Ivanka Trump as a "feckless c---" on her comedy show and missed the red carpet before the Television Academy Honors, but made it to the ceremony to accept an award for advancing social change.
During her acceptance she said:
"You know, the thing is our show is steeped in passion. Every week, I strive to show the world as I see it, unfiltered. Sometimes, I should probably have a filter."
Bee's reference came toward the end of a segment about President Trump's immigration policies on her TBS show, "Full Frontal," on Wednesday. She used the slur in urging Ivanka Trump to speak to her father about policies that separate children from their parents.
"Let me just say, one mother to another, do something about your dad's immigration practices, you feckless c---," Bee said, adding, "Put on something tight and low-cut and tell your father to f---ing stop it."
The comedienne issued an official apology Thursday.
"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. "It was inappropriate and inexcusable. I crossed a line, and I deeply regret it."
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Thursday called Bee's language "vile and vicious" and said executives at TBS and corporate parent Time Warner "must demonstrate that such explicit profanity about female members of this administration will not be condoned."
TBS said in a statement that 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. It was our mistake too, and we regret it."
TBS is owned by Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner, which also owns CNN.
In an on-air segment earlier Thursday morning, CNN's John King directly condemned Bee's comments as "reprehensible" and called on the network's parent company to comment.
The White House condemnation came hours before Bee received an award from the Television Academy - the group behind TV's Emmy Awards - at NeueHouse Hollywood.
A statement on the academy website reads: "For its dedication to making the audience laugh while making it think, the Television Academy is proud to include Full Frontal with Samantha Bee in the Television Academy Honors."
According to the website, the Television Academy award "is separate and distinct from Emmy's recognition of television excellence."
Thought Bee apologized, conservatives cried foul, saying Bee was being held to a different standard and compared her situation to Roseanne Barr's.
Barr tweeted a joke several days ago comparing a woman who worked for President Barack Obama to an ape.
On the red carpet Thursday, actors said there was no equivalence between the comments.
"It's not the same thing," actress Isabella Gomez said. "I think some of the words were racially charged and the others not so much. And I think that's a big difference."
"One was a TV show and was about comedy and pushing it to the edge of political satire, and the other one was a tweet," actress Dana Delany said.
"I think the two don't compare to each other at all in the slightest," editor and producer Heather Mathews said. "I'm a huge fan."
In response to Bee's comments, at least one "Full Frontal" sponsor dropped its affiliation with the show.
Announcing a suspension of its sponsorship, Autotrader called Bee's statements "offensive and unacceptable and do not reflect the views of our company."
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
