Hannity Accepts Jimmy Kimmels Apology, Sort Of

10 Apr, 2018

After a back-and-forth feud on Twitter last week between Sean Hannity and Jimmy Kimmel, the Fox News host has responded to the late-night comic’s apology to Melania Trump for mocking her accent on his ABC program.

Hannity, on his show Monday, said Kimmel was “bullying” the first lady. “I read [Kimmel’s] apology carefully,” he said. “A couple of things are clear to me. On the surface, it seems to be a forced, Disney apology directed to the LGBT community rather than Kimmel’s comments about the first lady.”

Hannity was likely referring to Kimmel’s comments in his apology, in which he said, “By lampooning Sean Hannity’s deference to the President, I most certainly did not intend to belittle or upset members of the gay community.” Kimmel had previously tweeted to Hannity, “When your clown makeup rubs off on Trump’s ass, does it make his butt look like a Creamsicle?”

Following Kimmel mocking Trump for reading a children’s book to kids at the White House Easter Egg Roll, Hannity criticized the ABC host, saying, “The first lady of the United States is not going to get into a feud with a late-night, low-rated talk show host like Jimmy Kimmel. She can’t. If she does, it’s not going to end well for her. So, he knows he has a free, open target.”

On Sunday, Kimmel posted a lengthy statement apologizing for the “silly aside” and saying that the “level of vitriol from all sides (mine and me included) does nothing good for anyone, and in fact, is harmful to our country.”

“I think every person should accept apologies, and that’s what I’m going to do here,” Hannity said Monday. “This was never about Hannity vs. Jimmy Kimmel, here’s why: The level of vitriol against President Trump and his family is really sickening. Attacking the first lady for her accent is just one small example, but it’s a line in the sand for me. Those cheap shots need to end.”

Hannity then invited Kimmel to come on his show, where he promised there would be “no name-calling.” He also said that if Kimmel decided to reignite the feud that he would “punch back even harder.”

THR.com

Image Hannity Screen Shot

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