‘America’s Got Talent’ Judge Howie Mandel Apologizes After Getting Called out for Remarks About Kids’ Performance

Howie Mandel is apologizing after he sparked criticism over his “really, really rude” critiques about the performance of a young ballroom dancer on America’s Got Talent. The AGT judge found himself in the hot seat, and even drawing comparisons to notoriously harsh critic Simon Cowell, when he took his remarks about one performance a step too far, despite the praise the act earned from his fellow judges.

The controversy and subsequent apology were sparked on Tuesday amid the ongoing auditions for the current season of the NBC reality competition show. The episode saw Alla Novikova returning to the show to chaperone her children, ballroom dancers Michael, 8, and Angelina, 6. Novikova previously competed on Season 11 as a mother-son dancing duo with her older son Daniel, now 14, and the pair made it all the way to the quarterfinals in 2016 before being eliminated, with Mandel at the time has given them a red buzzer and some particularly harsh critiques. Mandel previously told Daniel, who was 9 at the time, “When we first saw you, you were a surprise… but this is the third time I’m seeing the same moves. Third strike you’re out as far as I’m concerned.” His comments were dubbed “harsh” by Melanie “Mel-B” Brown.

Flash forward several years, Novikova didn’t hold back about how those comments really made her feel. Coming face-to-face with Mandel after Cowell called her out onto the stage, she told the AGT judge, “I would love to say you are actually really, really rude. You see a little kid performing on the stage, dancing his heart out. He was dancing with joy. He was doing his best and you were so hard on him.” Mandel then offered an apology, telling Novikova that he would “like to personally apologize to you and your son. I’m so sorry.” Mandel said he “doesn’t ever mean to hurt anyone’s feelings.”

Novikova’s young daughter Angelina seemed ready to offer Mandel a little grace. After hearing his apology, the young dancer quipped, “we all forgive you. Everyone makes mistakes.” Mandel’s fellow judge, however, was a little harsher, jokingly responding, “but he makes a lot of them.”

After the moment passed, young Michael and Angelina went on to perform their act. Their performance earned plenty of applause and praise, including from Mandel, who told the dancing duo, “That was amazing.” Sofia Vergara added, “There’s nothing bad to say. You guys were great and adorable.” News episodes of America’s Got Talent air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.