Wendy Williams is owning up to her mistakes and apologizing after making insensitive comments about gay men on her talk show. Wendy, clad in a bathrobe, posted an apology video to Instagram on February 14, telling fans that she was “deeply” sorry for saying that gay men should “stop wearing our skirts and our heels.” “I’ll start by saying that I apologize; I did not mean to offend my LGTBQ+ community on yesterday’s show,” Wendy began her video. “I did not realize until I got home and watched the second running of our show here in New York. And I always watch when I can to critique my delivery… I’m very persnickety about how I do my show, and one thing I can tell you is that I never do my show in a place of malice.”
Wendy’s offensive comments came during the Hot Topics segment at the top of the February 13 episode, when she noticed men in her audience clapping as she mentioned Galentine’s Day, the unofficial holiday about women supporting each other. “If you’re a man and you’re clapping, you’re not even a part of this. You don’t understand the rules of the day. It’s women going out and getting saucy and then going home. You’re not a part,” Wendy shockingly said. “I don’t care if you’re gay. You don’t get a [period] every 28 days. You can do a lot that we do, but I get offended by the idea that we go through something you will never go through. And stop wearing our skirts and our heels. Just saying, girls, what do we have for ourselves?”
She was immediately hit with backlash for her insensitive remarks, and it appears that she got the message. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings. I’m just having a conversation. If you’ve known me long enough, then you know,” she continued in her apology video. “I’m 55 years old, and maybe I sounded like your auntie, your mother, your big sister, or somebody out of touch. I’m not out of touch, except for perhaps yesterday when I said what I said.”
She ended with a sincere promise to her fans, as she teared up: “So, I deeply apologize, and I deeply appreciate the support that I get from the community. I will do better. I appreciate you supporting me. Thank you.”