8:48 AM PDT 6/1/2018
by
Evan Real
While accepting a Television Academy Honors award on Thursday night, the ‘Full Frontal’ host opened up about the “repercussions” of calling the president’s daughter a “feckless c—.”
Hours after apologizing for calling Ivanka Trump a “feckless c—” on this week’s episode of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, the TBS talk show host addressed the controversy while accepting a Television Academy Honors award on Thursday night.
The Hollywood Reporter was initially slated to cover both the red carpet and reception, but media outlets were told by a Television Academy rep on Thursday afternoon that press would not be allowed into the reception “as a result of today’s events involving Samantha Bee,” leading to “the need to limit access to tonight’s activities.”
However, a source provided IndieWire with a transcript of Bee’s speech — in which she expressed remorse for her remark about Trump, but defended Full Frontal‘s coverage of politics.
“You know, the thing is our show is steeped in passion,” Bee told the crowd at Hollywood’s NeueHouse. “Every week I strive to show the world as I see it, unfiltered. Sometimes I should probably have a filter. I accept that. I take it seriously when I get it right, and I do take responsibility when I get it wrong.”
Bee went on to say that the reason for her on-air dig at President Donald Trump’s daughter was lost in the resulting outrage over her word choice. The comedian made the comment in response to Ivanka — a senior White House adviser — posting photos with her son on social media while immigrant children were reportedly being separated from their parents at the border.
“Stories about 1,500 missing unaccompanied migrant children flooded the news cycle over the weekend,” she said. “So last night we aired a segment on the atrocious treatment of migrant children by this administration and past administrations. Sometimes even the ones who look best in swim trunks do bad jobs with things.”
Bee continued: “Our piece attracted controversy of the worst kind. We spent the day wrestling with the repercussions of one bad word, when 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?”
Full Frontal was honored for its coverage of the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements, and for highlighting the lack of information about women’s health in the medical community during Women’s History Month.
“I can tell you, as long as we have breath in our bodies and 21 minutes of airtime once a week, repeats on Saturdays, that we as a show will never stop shouting [about] the inhumanities of this world from the rooftops and striving to make it a better place. But in a comedy way,” said Bee.
“There is power in saying what you feel without apology…” she added, quipping of her apology to Ivanka Trump: “OK, and sometimes you also have to apologize.”
Earlier Thursday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded to Bee’s televised slur on Thursday in a statement: “The language used by Samantha Bee last night is vile and vicious. The collective silence by the left and its media allies is appalling. 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.”
Though TBS has received calls from the White House to cancel Full Frontal in the wake of Bee’s comment, Bee thanked the network for “always [having] our back, and we appreciate that so deeply.”
Let’s block ads! (Why?)
