Bette Midler offered an apology Thursday for a tweet in which she called women “the N-word of the world.”
“The too brief investigation of allegations against Kavanaugh infuriated me,” she said in an explanation. “Angrily I tweeted w/o thinking my choice of words would be enraging to black women who doubly suffer, both by being women and by being black. I am an ally and stand with you; always have. And I apologize.”
The too brief investigation of allegations against Kavanaugh infuriated me. Angrily I tweeted w/o thinking my choice of words would be enraging to black women who doubly suffer, both by being women and by being black. I am an ally and stand with you; always have. And I apologize.
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) October 5, 2018
“Women are the n-word of the world, raped, beaten, enslaved married off, worked like dumb animals; denied education and inheritance; enduring the pain and danger of childbirth and life IN SILENCE for THOUSANDS of years,” said Midler in the original tweet, which was live for about three hours before she deleted it. “They are the most disrespected creatures on earth.”
In a follow-up explainer tweet which she also later deleted, Midler said she was trying to make a point by alluding to the 1972 song “Woman Is the N– of the World” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
“I gather I have offended many by my last tweet. ‘Women are the…etc.’ is a quote from Yoko Ono from 1972, which I never forgot. It rang true then, and it rings true today, whether you like it or not. This is not about race, this is about the status of women; THEIR HISTORY.”
Reps for Midler did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap, though a look at the comment to retweet ratio of each tweet suggests they were both on their way to infamy at the time she deleted.
Midler, a star of the screen and stage, has been an acting staple for decades. She most recently headlined as the title role in the Broadway revival of “Hello Dolly” and is remembered for notable roles in “Hocus Pocus,” “The First Wives Club,” and “Ruthless People.”