A CNN analyst called out a Fox News contributor for his white privilege. He's black.

David Webb was accused of exercising his white privilege. Photo / YouTube

CNN legal analyst Areva Martin thought she was talking to a white man on Tuesday while appearing as a guest on David Webb's SiriusXM radio show.

When Webb, a frequent Fox News contributor, said he considered his qualifications more important than his skin colour when applying to jobs in journalism, Martin accused him of exercising white privilege.

But there's a problem with that sentiment, as Webb quickly pointed out:

"Areva, I hate to break it to you, but you should've been better prepped," he responded. "I'm black."

The exchange was posted to Twitter by Webb on Tuesday afternoon. He's heard in the interview saying, "I've chosen to cross different parts of the media world, done the work so that I'm qualified to be in each one; I never considered my colour the issue; I considered my qualifications the issue."

Martin responds: "Well, David, that's a whole other long conversation about white privilege, the things that you have the privilege of doing, that people of colour don't have the privilege of."

"How do I have the privilege of white privilege?," Webb asks.

"David, by virtue of being a white male you have white privilege. This whole long conversation, I don't have time to get into -"

Webb then interrupts her to let her know he's a black man, causing Martin to take a pause.

"You see, you went to white privilege, this is the falsehood in this," Webb replies. "You went immediately with an assumption. Your people, obviously, or you didn't look.

Martin apologises repeatedly for her false accusation, adding that "her people" gave her the wrong information.

"You're talking to a black man . . . who started out in rock radio in Boston, who crossed the paths into hip-hop, rebuilding one of the greatest black stations in America and went on to work at Fox News where I'm told apparently blacks aren't supposed to work, but yet, you come with this assumption and you go to white privilege," Webb says. "That's actually insulting."

Martin has not publicly acknowledged the incident. Her spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email and phone call requesting comment.

In addition to his roles with SiriusXM and Fox Nation, Webb is also a contributor for Fox News, The Hill and Brietbart News, according to his website. After the interview, Webb appeared to make light of Areva's gaffe on Twitter by posting photos of himself with white men, writing "Just two guys showing their #WhitePrivilege."