Good Morning America host apologizes for laughing at Prince George's interest in ballet

Good Morning America's Lara Spencer has apologized after coming under fire for seemingly mocking Prince George for his interest in ballet.

During a Thursday segment, Spencer reported on the prince's "demanding" curriculum, noting that it includes not only "the usual" courses but also things like "religious studies" and "ballet." When Spencer got to "ballet" at the end of her list of activities, George Stephanopoulos and others in the room immediately broke out into laughter. Spencer played into their amusement by joking in response to a photo of the prince, "He looks so happy about the ballet class!" She concluded the segment by saying, "Prince William says George absolutely loves ballet. I have news for you Prince William: We'll see how long that lasts."

Spencer is now apologizing, captioning an unrelated Instagram photo on Friday with, "My sincere apologies for an insensitive comment I made in pop news yesterday." She added, "From ballet to anything one wants to explore in life, I say GO FOR IT [because] I believe we should all be free to pursue our passions."

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Spencer might have intended to emphasize George's surprisingly busy schedule with her comment, seeing as she noted while wrapping up the segment that he "might end up" just wanting to "go back to the Play-Doh." Clearly, that's not how it came across to viewers, though; the video received more than 1,000 thumbs down on YouTube and went viral. A since-deleted Twitter clip drew strong reactions on Friday, with New York magazine's Olivia Nuzzi writing, "This is so out of touch it's like from another dimension."

Luckily, Prince George can breathe a sigh of relief knowing he now has Good Morning America's permission to pursue his interests. Brendan Morrow