Samantha Bee Under Fire For Vulgar Slur Aimed At Ivanka Trump

LOS ANGELES, CA — Comedian Samantha Bee was forced to apologize Thursday for directing a vulgar slur at President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka on her show "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee."

The uproar over the use of Bee's gendered slur comes just days after the hit sitcom "Roseanne" was canceled because of a racist tweet by the show's star Roseanne Barr. The backlash against Bee was swift, with the White House leading the charge.

"I would like to sincerely apologize to Ivanka Trump and to my viewers for using an expletive on my show to describe her last night," Bee wrote on her Twitter page Thursday. "It was inappropriate and inexcusable. I crossed a line, and I deeply regret it."

Bee was critical of Ivanka Trump on her show Wednesday night during a segment about federal authorities losing track of 1,500 immigrant children as the Trump administratuon insists on a policy separating children from their parents when they are caught entering the country illegally. The administration views the draconian measure as an effective tool for discouraging crossings, much to the frustration of liberals and humanitarian groups. On her show, Bee juxtaposed the story with a photo Ivanka Trump posted online of herself and her children.

The comedian implied Ivanka Trump shares the blame for her father's policy, calling on her to "do something about your dad's immigration practices, you feckless c---. He listens to you. Put on something tight and low-cut and tell your father to f------ stop it. Tell him it was an Obama thing and see how it goes, OK?"

The White House issued a response Thursday, calling Bee's language vile.

"The language used by Samantha Bee last night is vile and vicious," said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. "The collective silence by the left and its media allies is appalling. Her disgusting comments and show are not fit for broadcast, and executives at Time Warner and TBS must demonstrate that such explicit profanity about female members of this administration will not be condoned on its network."

Bee wasn't the only one taking heat for her language Thursday. TBS, which airs the show, responded with an apology too. "Samantha Bee has taken the right action in apologizing for the vile and inappropriate language she used about Ivanka Trump last night. Those words should not have been aired," the network said. "It was our mistake too, and we regret it."

The network has not indicated that Bee's show could suffer the same fate as Barr's. Bee's critics call that a double standard. They compared it to the outrage directed at Barr after she compared former Barack Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to an ape on Twitter. Barr apologized, but ABC canceled her show within hours.

Now conservative pundits want to see Bee taken down for her language. Fox News commentator Lauren DeBellis Appell questioned why there has been no suggestion that Bee's job is in jeopardy.

"Where are all the voices of so-called female empowerment coming to Ivanka's defense?" Appell wrote in a column on the Fox News website. "Will the ladies on `The View' call out Bee for her vulgarity and defend Ivanka? Imagine their outrage if one of them had been called a `feckless c---' on national television."

Reactions on Twitter were mixed with critics calling out "liberal hypocrisy" for condemning Barr but not Bee. Bee's supporters, on the other hand, called out "conservative hypocrisy" for supporting the President despite his vulgar language.

Autotrader, an advertiser on the show, said it would pull its adds amid the uproar.

"The comments expressed by Samantha Bee were offensive and unacceptable and do not reflect the views of our company," according to the firm. "As a result, we have suspended our sponsorship of `Full Frontal with Samantha Bee."'

The controversy comes as Bee is set to be honored in Hollywood Thursday at the annual Television Academy Honors. The event recognizes "seven outstanding programs that have leveraged the dynamic power of television to inspire social change." Bee's show was specifically chosen "for its dedication to making the audience laugh while making it think."

There was no immediate comment from the Television Academy about Bee's insult of Trump.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for TBS/Turner)