When you find yourself on a ballroom dais accepting an award on the same day you’re enmeshed in a headline-making controversy, it’s pretty much impossible not to address the elephant in the room.
That was the situation for Samantha Bee on Thursday night when the “Full Frontal” host took to the stage at Neuehouse in Hollywood to accept a Television Honors Award.
The Canadian comedienne has been roundly criticized for calling Ivanka Trump “a feckless c**t” during an impassioned segment addressing the Trump administration’s draconian immigration policy on the Wednesday edition of “Full Frontal.” In the wake of much outrage, Bee subsequently apologized for her use of the offending word.
In her acceptance speech, Bee expressed her dismay that one word stole the focus from the larger point she was making.
“You know, the thing is our show is steeped in passion,” said Bee, as reported by IndieWire. “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.”
She continued: “Stories about 1,500 missing unaccompanied migrant children flooded the news cycle over the weekend. 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. Our piece attracted controversy of the worst kind.”
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As Bee explained, “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?”
Despite the controversy, Bee vowed to continue to speak truth to power on her show. “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,” she quipped before addressing her mea culpa.
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“There is power in saying what you feel without apology,” she said, getting a big laugh when she added: “OK, and sometimes you also have to apologize.”
