In 'a very important and heartfelt apology,' the 'A Little Late With Lilly Singh' host admits that 'stupidly made a comparison about turbans that I'd like to apologize for.'

• Sep 28, 2019

AceShowbiz - Lilly Singh has apologized after angering the Sikh religion for her "painful" joke about Turbans. The 30-year-old Indian-Canadian previously landed in hot water after likening Turbans to towels in the Thursday, September 24 episode of "A Little Late With Lilly Singh".

During the episode, in which Jessica Alba was the guest, they were glimpsed of the actress' children who had towels on their heads. Upon seeing that, the comedian remarked, "Don't worry, it's like my Punjabi friends."

Some viewers, especially the Sikh religion who wears turbans for spiritual reason, didn't take her joke well and made sure Lilly knew what they felt through comments and tweets. However, the host didn't seem to take the criticism seriously as she tweeted on Friday, "Don't take yourself too seriously today. Have fun. You deserve it," prompting people to slam her even more.

Lilly then explained that her earlier post was not about the backlash she got from the joke before issuing "a very important and heartfelt apology" about her "disrespectful and problematic" joke. She wrote in the lengthy message, "In a recent episode of my show, I stupidly made a comparison about turbans that I'd like to apologize for."

Explaining her side of story, she said, "My guest was explaining how her kids were embarrassed I saw them with towels twisted on their heads and I said 'don't worry, it's like my Punjabi friends.' In the moment, my thought process was 'don't be embarrassed! I think that's dope.' But in hindsight I recognize that was a disrespectful and problematic joke to make that has a lot of painful history behind it. And I'm very sorry."

"This was the first episode of the show I ever taped and I was very nervous, doing improv that wasn't well thought out," Lilly continued. "I'm incredibly sorry to those I hurt with that comparison. And grateful to the people who took the time to bring this to my attention and educate me on the matter; I appreciate that you approached me with love and patience."

"I don't wear a turban and I haven't lived that experience and so I really value people giving perspective," she added. "I'm grateful that this was a teachable moment instead of another opportunity to divide and attack."

Concluding the message, Lilly wrote, "I'm still learning and growing. I know the line for comedy is subjective so I can only do what I feel is right. And in this case, taking full ownership and apologizing feels right. No ands, ifs or buts. It was wrong. I hope you continue to make space for me to make mistakes, and improve from them. Aside from these words, I've also taken the action to ensure my stupid joke is removed from the episode and online clips."