Samantha Bee apologizes to women, migrant kids for crudely insulting Ivanka Trump, cleanly savages ripping kids from parents

Samantha Bee has another go at child migrant policy

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Full Frontal)

published 7 June 2018

"A lot of people were offended and angry that I used an epithet to describe the president's daughter and adviser last week," Samantha Bee said on Wednesday's Full Frontal. She has used the word "c--t" on the show "many times, hoping to reclaim it," Bee said. "This time I used it as an insult, I crossed the line, I regret it, and I do apologize for that." Lots of women don't want the word reclaimed, they want it gone, she added. "I want this show to be challenging and I want it to be honest, but I never wanted it to hurt anyone — except Ted Cruz. Many men were also offended by my use of the word — I do not care about that."

"I hate that this distracted from more important issues" and contributed to "the nightmare of 24-hour news cycles that we're all white-knuckling through," Bee said. "I should have known that a potty-mouthed insult would be inherently more interesting to them than juvenile immigration policy. I would do anything to help those kids, I hate that this distracted from them, so to them I am also sorry." And if you want to save civility, or "nice words," she advised, don't look to comedians.

Bee started the main part of her show by introducing a panel of censors and reminding everyone she'd tried to make a point last week about President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions "ripping all migrant kids apart from their families at the border" and locking 11,000 of them up in "a literal Kids 'R' Us store." And "since none of you saw more than four letters of that show," she added — TBS pulled it after the controversy — "here is an update." It's an important topic, this version is clean, and you can watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.