Wendy Williams is apologizing for her comments about gay men during Thursday’s episode of The Wendy Williams Show, during which she told them to “stop wearing our skirts and our heels.” The controversial talk show host put her foot in her mouth during a Galentine’s Day segment of her show after she told the men clapping for the celebration of female friendship that they weren’t welcome.
Williams continued, “I don’t care if you’re gay. You don’t get a mense 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.”
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“And stop wearing our skirts and our heels. Just saying, girls, what do we have for ourselves,” she added. “Lookie here now, gay men, you’ll never be the woman that we are. No matter how gay, sir.”
The comment was widely criticized as homophobic and transphobic, with Queer Eye star Tan France sharing a photo of himself in heels on Instagram not long after. “#GayHeelsForWendy Uuuugh, Wendy Williams,” his caption began, asking his followers to “Hashtag GayHeelsForWendy, so I/she can see your FABULOUS pics in heels!!”
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Friday, Williams shared a video on her Twitter apologizing for her statement.
A message from Wendy. pic.twitter.com/aEpMvubJVJ
— Wendy Williams (@WendyWilliams) February 14, 2020
“I’ll start by saying I apologize,” her statement began. “I did not mean to offend my LGBTQ+ community on yesterday’s show. I did not realize until I got home and watched the second running of our show…And one thing I can tell you right now is that I never do the show in a place of malice. I understand my platform in the community.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt anybody’s feelings. I’m just having a conversation,” Williams continued. “I’m 55-years-old and maybe I sounded…somebody out of touch. I’m not out of touch except for perhaps yesterday for saying what I said. 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.”
Photo credit: Patricia Schlein/Star Max/GC Images/Getty
