Howie Mandel is walking back his on-air clapback to Kelly Ripa over his physical appearance.
“I have been debating for 48 hours whether I should make this post or not, and I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing,” Mandel, 70, said in a Saturday, March 28, Instagram video. “Philosophically, I don’t believe that somebody who’s a comedian needs to apologize for a joke. It is a joke, it is meant as a joke, and it’s not meant to offend.”
He continued, “You can not like it and, in all my years in the business, I haven’t ever publicly apologized for [a joke].”
Mandel was interviewed on the Monday, March 23, broadcast of Live With Kelly and Mark, where Ripa, 55, publicly complimented the game show host’s appearance.
“You just celebrated 70 years. You’re 70 years old,” Ripa’s husband, Mark Consuelos, began before Ripa chimed in, adding, “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Mandel seemed perplexed by Ripa’s remarks.
“What do you mean it doesn’t make any sense?” he said. “I look great. That doesn’t mean anything to me.”
Ripa later attempted to clarify that she thought Mandel looked “great” and couldn’t believe he was actually his age.
“It’s like saying you’re smart for a stupid person,” he added. “‘Oh, you look smart! You seem smart!’ I don’t look good.”
Without further addressing the heated exchange, Mandel and Ripa continued their interview as planned. He apparently had a change of heart by Saturday.
“This is hard for me, but this is for Kelly Ripa, who in the past has been incredibly supportive,” Mandel continued in his video message. “Not only have I been a guest on her show, but I have cohosted with her and I have known her for years.”
According to Mandel, he simply “tries to be entertaining” whenever he walks onto the Live stage.
“Sometimes as a comedian, things don’t land the way you mean then to land,” Mandel acknowledged of his jokes. “Not only do I want to say, ‘I’m sorry,’ to Kelly but … you’re right. You’re absolutely right, and I’m sorry I didn’t see it that way.”
At the end of Monday’s broadcast, Mandel took some time to self-reflect about his reaction.
“I do, I look great for my age. I really do,” he said. “I look fantastic. I just have to embrace the fact that I look this good.”
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