Why Samantha Bee's Full Frontal C-word apology was perfect

Quartz

The Full Frontal host resisted "the socially engrained pressure women face of melting into a sappy puddle of self-hatred whenever they’ve crossed a line," says Leah Fessler. "Instead of stopping at the admittance of her wrongdoing, Bee seamlessly wove a moment of feminine division into feminist unity by setting clear and unapologetic boundaries between who deserves her remorse, and who does not..." Fessler adds: "At their core, apologies are not about you—they’re about the person you’ve hurt. Which is why it’s okay to briefly explain why you did what you did, but it’s not okay to turn your motivations into excuses. There’s no more surefire way to ruin an apology than being defensive or claiming the person you’re apologizing to is in the wrong. Bee hits the mark on every one of these apology tactics, while skillfully employing humor both to bring levity to the situation, and to stay true to her values."

ALSO:

• Last night's Full Frontal carried less than half the national advertisers of the previous week
• Why Bee's apology was bad: She presented a false choice
• Bee framed her apology to victims rather than bow to phony conservative outrage
• Fox & Friends mocked Bee's apology: "She wanted to expand her name recognition, and she did," said NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch
• Bee wasn’t doing anything new in using the C word — she just got caught saying it about the “wrong” person
• Bee's apology was "a very effective and economical use of two minutes"