NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Entertainment

Samantha Bee says sorry for calling Ivanka Trump a vulgar word

Washington Post
31 May, 2018 07:45 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Samantha Bee's Ivanka Trump rant. / TBS - Full Frontal

Ivanka Trump sparked online outrage earlier this week when she tweeted a photo of herself with her younger son around the same time as reports that the US Government had lost track of nearly 1500 migrant children last year.

During a Wednesday night segment criticising the administration's immigration practices, Full Frontal host Samantha Bee directed some choice words at the first daughter.

"You know, Ivanka, that's a beautiful photo of you and your child," Bee said. "Let me just say, one mother to another, do something about your dad's immigration practices, you feckless c***. He listens to you."

My ♥️! #SundayMorning pic.twitter.com/CN5iXutE5Q

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) May 27, 2018

The comment attracted quite a bit of attention on social media and elicited a passionate response from the White House.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The language used by Samantha Bee last night is vile and vicious," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the Wrap.

"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 apologised in a statement: "I would like to sincerely apologise to Ivanka Trump and to my viewers for using an expletive on my show to describe her last night," she said. "It was inappropriate and inexcusable. I crossed a line, and I deeply regret it."

TBS commented in an additional statement: "Samantha Bee has taken the right action in apologising for the vile and inappropriate language she used about Ivanka Trump last night. Those words should not have been aired. It was our mistake too, and we regret it."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

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. It was inappropriate and inexcusable. I crossed a line, and I deeply regret it.

— Samantha Bee (@iamsambee) May 31, 2018

The video of the segment appears to have been taken down from Youtube and Facebook.

Autotrader, an online marketplace for cars, stated that it would be suspending its sponsorship of the TBS show: "The comments expressed by Samantha Bee were offensive and unacceptable and do not reflect the views of our company."

A number of Twitter users equated Bee's words with Roseanne Barr's racist tweet about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett that led to the cancellation of her ABC series.

OANN host Liz Wheeler tweeted that she is "waiting for the liberal outrage and firing of Samantha Bee". NBC's Megyn Kelly called Bee's language "disgusting" and criticised the media coverage of Bee's segment.

Discover more

Entertainment

'Being attacked': Roseanne unleashes in bizarre response

30 May 04:22 AM
Entertainment

The staggering cost of axing Roseanne

30 May 07:37 AM
Entertainment

Trump weighs in on Rosanne Barr debate

30 May 05:46 PM
Opinion

Hawkesby: Roseanne, racism and putting values over profit

30 May 08:43 PM

"How is this acceptable?" she wrote. "And how are we expected to take any of these publications seriously if they gleefully repost something like this at the same time they [rightfully] condemn @therealroseanne?"

CNN's Brian Stelte claimed that there would be "widespread criticism" of a conservative comedian disparaging Chelsea Clinton in a similar manner.

"How about we debate Trump's policies without resorting to profanity?" he added.

Radio host Erick Erickson tweeted that equating Bee's words with Barr's tweet is valid, adding that "most of you who think it is [false equivalence] would agree with me if it was someone other than a Trump being attacked".

Samantha Bee called Ivanka Trump a “feckless c*nt” and some are defending this? You’re the problem with Hollywood. What happened to civility? She needs to be fired.

— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) May 31, 2018

"Samantha Bee" has to go. @TBSNetwork must fire her.

— Stacy Washington (@StacyOnTheRight) May 31, 2018

The only apology Samantha Bee should have made is “Fine, she’s not feckless.”

— The Rude Pundit (@rudepundit) May 31, 2018

The rebuttals have been that this form of vulgar language doesn't compare to Barr's comment perpetuating racism and her history of doing so.

A majority of Bee's segment concerned other officials in the Trump administration. After joking that she had popped an Ambien, a reference to Barr's explanation for the tweet, she made a comparison of her own.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Tearing children away from their parents is so evil," she said. "It's the inciting incident in almost every movie we've ever cared about."

A few examples? Taken, Kidnap and, of course, Finding Nemo. Bee then addressed claims that questionable immigration policies predate the Trump presidency: "They're half right. We have had awful immigration practices since, well, always ... Donald Trump didn't invent this issue. He's just making it so much worse."

A number of recent interviews with conservative politicians serve as proof, according to Bee. Former Republican Senator Rick Santorum said Sunday on CNN that "we lose people all the time".

Earlier in the month, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told NPR correspondent John Burnett that the migrant children would be put into foster care "or whatever". Kirstjen Nielsen, the Homeland Security secretary, argued on C-SPAN that families are separated "because they're breaking the law".

"We know this isn't just about breaking the law because you're also doing this to families who are legally seeking asylum," Bee responded. "After decades of ignoring the issue, Americans are finally paying attention. Well, most of us."

The exception, she argued, being Ivanka Trump.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Entertainment

Premium
Opinion

Opinion: Stop blaming Jaws for ruining movies

20 Jun 06:00 AM
Entertainment

The Kiwi adventurer who tried to stop the Titan OceanGate disaster

20 Jun 01:00 AM
Entertainment

Lorde releases new single ahead of Virgin album

19 Jun 10:47 PM

Help for those helping hardest-hit

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Entertainment

Premium
Opinion: Stop blaming Jaws for ruining movies

Opinion: Stop blaming Jaws for ruining movies

20 Jun 06:00 AM

OPINION: Why Jaws isn't the villain in the film's blockbuster evolution.

The Kiwi adventurer who tried to stop the Titan OceanGate disaster

The Kiwi adventurer who tried to stop the Titan OceanGate disaster

20 Jun 01:00 AM
Lorde releases new single ahead of Virgin album

Lorde releases new single ahead of Virgin album

19 Jun 10:47 PM
Premium
From Jacinda Ardern to Air NZ: 32 of the best lifestyle and entertainment stories of the year so far

From Jacinda Ardern to Air NZ: 32 of the best lifestyle and entertainment stories of the year so far

19 Jun 10:00 PM
Inside Leigh Hart’s bonkers quest to hand-deliver a SnackaChangi chip to every Kiwi
sponsored

Inside Leigh Hart’s bonkers quest to hand-deliver a SnackaChangi chip to every Kiwi

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP