Even provocateurs embracing apologies
Apologies are so on trend right now. In the span of a week, Bill Maher, Kathy Griffin and Piers Morgan have all said sorry, even though as provocateurs they normally revel in making people uncomfortable. What gives? The proliferation of apologies these days is most likely compelled by social media.
If outraged Twitter users have taught us anything, it’s that there’s no shortage of things to atone for.
But not everyone expresses remorse. Or, at least, they didn’t used to. Over the course of her career, Griffin was unapologetic despite mocking Oprah’s weight gain, stripping on Letterman, dropping an F-bomb on live television and announcing on a red carpet that Dakota Fanning — a child at the time — had just checked into rehab. E! apologized for that last (false) comment and made a donation to UNICEF in Fanning’s name as a public display of penance.
But Griffin’s apology last week was unequivocal. After a gruesome photo of her holding what looked like Donald Trump’s bloodied, severed head started making the rounds online, the backlash was extreme.
“I went way too far,” she said in a video she posted to Twitter. “The image is too disturbing, I understand how it offends people. It wasn’t funny, I get it. I beg for your forgiveness.”
Morgan is best known for delighting in the outrage that follows his provocative declarations.
He likes using the word “feminazi” and criticizing women’s clothing choices. He’s publicly trolled Emma Watson, Cher, Beyoncé, Madonna and Jennifer Aniston, among many others.
And he hasn’t apologized for any of it. Until now.
After the attack in Manchester at an Ariana Grande concert, Morgan criticized the singer on Twitter for quickly leaving town.
But he changed his tune after she hosted a huge benefit concert Sunday that raised $13 million.
In an op-ed for the Daily Mail, he apologized to Grande.
“I want you to know this: I seriously misjudged you,” he wrote. “I had you down as just another self-obsessed millionaire pop star prepared to put her own safety before that of her fans. I was completely wrong.”
Morgan’s column wasn’t entirely contrite. He still stood by his earlier assessment that Grande should have stayed in Manchester to see the wounded concertgoers, but he also said she showed more compassion to her fans than Morgan ever showed her.
Often controversial, Maher is once again in hot water after a Friday night episode of HBO’s Real Time. During the program he said the N-word during an exchange with Senator Ben Sasse, who told Maher he’d be happy to have the host come to Nebraska and work the fields with his constituents.
“Work in the fields?” Maher retorted. “Senator, I’m a house n—.”
The next day he issued a statement, saying, “I regret the word I used in the banter of a live moment. The word was offensive and I regret saying it and am very sorry.”
Griffin followed up her apology with a news conference during which she painted herself as the victim of the Trump family, whom she claims is bullying her.
How much weight should we give to celebrity apologies? It’s a good way to get the angry tweeters to settle down, at least — and even the instigators need that sometimes.