Jimmy Kimmel sorry for ‘silly’ joke about Melania Trump amid Twitter spat with Fox News’ Sean Hannity
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Jimmy Kimmel has apologised for making a "silly" joke about first lady Melania Trump's accent in a bid to apparently deescalate a Twitter spat with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
The US comic said in a Twitter post on Sunday that his exchanges with Hannity were fun but he didn't want to add to the "vitriol" of their spat, which included Hannity calling Kimmel a "sick, twisted, creepy, perverted weirdo" during his Fox show on Friday.
Kimmel said such animosity is "harmful to our country" and said President Donald Trump's wife had enough to worry about "without being used as a prop to increase TV ratings."
He also alluded to threats that had been made against his family following the feud, which he described as "vile" and "shocking".
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On ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on April 2, Kimmel mocked the first lady's reading of a children's book at the White House Easter egg hunt.
Making fun of the accent of the first lady, who was born in Slovenia, he laughed and said: "Dees and dat.”
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Hannity, an avid supporter of the Republican president, took exception to the joke sparking a Twitter war that lasted throughout the week.
Hannity's initial attack on Kimmel, calling him an "ass clown," was enthusiastically countered by Kimmel, who said Hannity was the "whole a** circus."
Hannity the shared a series of Kimmel clips, mostly from the comedian's days as a co-host of Comedy Central's "The Man Show," that featured segments showing Kimmel with an exaggerated fake erection, asking women to find something hidden in his pants and going up to random women in the street asking if they wanted to have sex with him.
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Kimmel thanked Hannity for the trip down memory lane but said the idea that Hannity would call anyone a pervert while he was "slobbering over" Donald Trump is, "to quote a fella you love very much, `sad."'
Kimmel, in his apologetic Twitter message, said he hopes Hannity will "continue his newly-found advocacy for women, immigrants and First Ladies."
Hannity said he'd address Kimmel's statement on his Monday show.