Originally posted Wednesday, June 6, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
As expected, Samantha Bee on her comedic political satire show "Full Frontal" on Atlanta-based TBS issued an apology on the top of her new episode Wednesday night. But she did so without apologizing for the substance behind the use of the offensive epithet last week.
She used a particular four-letter word that women generally find super insulting and I can't use per AJC policy. It was bleeped out by TBS as well, but everyone knew what she said. She also happened to direct it at Ivanka Trump last week for not pushing her father for a more humane policy for undocumented immigrants (or "illegal aliens" by those who really don't like them).
Many folks who probably didn't like her in the first place - including Donald Trump - called for her firing. TBS held its ground and she's still employed.
She said she has often used the offensive word to try to "reclaim" it but understands that some women have heard that word during the worst moments of their lives and have no desire to hear it at all. "I don't want to inflict more pain on them," she said. "I want this show to be challenging and honest. I never intended it to hurt anyone... but Ted Cruz." (Yes, mocking the Texas Senator is a hobby of hers.)
Bee, whose show has often focused on issues important to women, noted that “many men were also offended by my use of the word. I do not care about that.”
She ultimately felt like the brouhaha distracted from the issue at hand: the 11,000 migrant kids separated from their families. While many families were trying to enter the border illegally, others were seeking legitimate asylum.
Bee lamented that she fed the “nightmare of the 24-hour news cycle we’re all white knuckling through. I should have known a potty-mouthed insult would be inherently more interesting to them than juvenile immigrants.” She apologized to those immigrants by creating this diversion.
Finally, she said for those who worry about the “death of civility,” she said “civility is just nice words. Maybe we should worry about the niceness of our actions.”
She then proceeded into an extended segment about how the Trump administration continues a policy that the Obama administration followed. She shows examples of how officials seem to lack compassion for kids.
And to make fun of her aforementioned potty mouth, she introduced four stone-faced men as a mock “censorship” panel to ensure she doesn’t say anything nasty.
Here’s the apology:
And here’s the segment that followed:
About the Author
