After a weekend of backlash, Good Morning America host righted her wrongs. Lara Spencer issued an on-air apology for seemingly mocking Prince George for taking ballet class in a segment Thursday morning.
“I screwed up,” she told viewers. “The comment I made about dance was stupid and insensitive and I am deeply sorry.”
She also met with three prominent male members of the dance community — Robbie Fairchild, So You Think You Can Dance's Travis Wall, and Fabrice Calmels — to talk about the bullying they faced growing up and pursuing dance as young men. Watch the apology and interview below.
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.@LaraSpencer apologizes for her comments about boys and dance and sits down with 3 celebrated ballet dancers: “It has been a true education for me.” pic.twitter.com/bYJUvVGaXK
— Good Morning America (@GMA) August 26, 2019
Original story published below on August 23.
When Prince George is older, his parents will tell him the story of the one time the whole world rushed to his defense with pitchforks and tweets. On Thursday morning, Good Morning America host Lara Spencer announced the news of the young royal's curriculum this school year which, in addition to traditional 6-year-old subjects like math and history, includes more specialized subjects like religious studies and ballet. However, Spencer and her fellow hosts adopted somewhat of a mocking tone while speaking about the dance class, prompting the audience to erupt into laughter as Spencer delivered a special message to Prince William: "We'll see how long that lasts."
This angered both members of the dance community and beyond, who felt GMA was encouraging bullying and furthering the stigma for men in the dance community.
Do better @GMA. It is so inappropriate to make fun any boy, let alone 6-year-old Prince George, for taking ballet classes. You’re encouraging bullying. https://t.co/ywJ44Axuu1
— em (@emilysophia___) August 23, 2019
prince george was mocked on @GMA for liking ballet ?. LET KIDS PLAY AND LEARN WHAT THEY WANT WITHOUT BEING JUDGED. WHAT YEAR IS IT? GET IT TOGETHER FAM. #balletforall
— Laura Perlongo (@LauraPerlongo) August 23, 2019
Hey Prince George! I think it’s really cool that you’re dancing!! Ballet classes at a young age are exactly the reason why I get to this super cool job every single Sunday! ?? pic.twitter.com/tVtSEVmEVa
— Kyle Tanguay (@ktangkyle) August 23, 2019
While ABC did not immediately respond to Refinery29's request for comment, Spencer heard her critics loud and clear.
"My sincere apologies for an insensitive comment I made in pop news yesterday," she captioned an Instagram photo. "From ballet to anything one wants to explore in life, I say GO FOR IT. I fully believe we should all be free to pursue our passions. Go climb your mountain-and love every minute of it."
On her Instagram story she posted a similar message, writing that she also took ballet as a kid.
Prince William and Kate Middleton have not responded to the comments or the backlash, but that's likely because they're too busy being treated to a dance performance from young George as we speak.
Watch the segment below.