Late-night television host Samantha Bee apologized on Thursday for describing Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump's daughter and senior adviser, with a vulgar slur on her TBS show "Full Frontal," moments after the White House condemned the remark as "vile and vicious" and demanded that executives at the network take action.
"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," Bee tweeted.
Bee blasted Ms. Trump in the opening monologue of her show Wednesday night for posting a photo with her son on Twitter this week in the midst of Trump's crackdown at the border that has resulting in more than 10,000 migrant children being separated from their parents.
"Ivanka Trump, who works at the White House, chose to post the second most oblivious tweet we've seen this week," Bee said.
She went on to implore Ms. Trump to "do something about your dad's immigration practices, you feckless c***."
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders condemned Bee and others Thursday, saying the language was "not fit for broadcast."
“The language used by Samantha Bee last night is vile and vicious. The collective silence by the left and its media allies is appalling," Sanders said. "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.”
TBS also issued a statement, saying the network regrets airing the comments.
"Samantha Bee has taken the right action in apologizing for the vile and inappropriate language she used about Ivanka Trump last night," the network said. "Those words should not have been aired. It was our mistake too, and we regret it."
Autotrader announced that they were dropping their sponsorship of Bee's show, calling her comments "offensive and unacceptable" and said they "do not reflect the views of our company." State Farm also reportedly suspended their advertising.
Bee's remark caused a firestorm on social media and immediately drew comparisons to comedian Roseanne Barr's racist comment aimed at former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. Barr compared Jarrett, who is black, to an ape on Twitter, which led ABC to swiftly cancel the revival of her hit sitcom, "Roseanne."
The president himself tweeted, "Why aren’t they firing no talent Samantha Bee for the horrible language used on her low ratings show?"
Trump, who had publicly praised Barr for supporting him and cheered her high ratings at a rally, and other members of his administration did not condemn Barr's racist remark. Instead, the president attacked ABC for not apologizing for perceived slights against him.
Some called for Bee to be fired, while others rose to her defense, pointing out the difference between Barr's tweet about Jarrett and the late-night host's insult.
"Samantha, you cant hold a candle to Ivanka. Your irreverence if aimed at a democrat president's daughter would have gotten you fired," Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, who is close to President Trump, tweeted Thursday.
Comedian Kathy Griffin, who earned widespread condemnation for posing with the fake, bloodied, decapitated head of President Trump last year, defended Bee by tweeting the text of the First Amendment.