Shepard Smith: Sorry I Called Robin Williams a 'Coward'

Fox News host says remark 'just came out of my mouth'
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 12, 2014 3:30 PM CDT

Robin Williams killed himself because he was ... a "coward"? Fox News host Shepard Smith suggested as much on the air yesterday, and later issued an apology "to the core of my being" once Twitter lashed out at him, Mediaite reports. As reported by Raw Story, Shepard talked about the joy Williams experienced watching his children grow into their mid-20s, then added: "And yet, something inside you is so horrible or you’re such a coward or whatever the reason that you decide that you have to end it. Robin Williams, at 63, did that today." Well, at least some on Twitter took him to task:

Next, Smith got on the phone with Mediaite and explained himself, saying more than once that he doesn't see the world "in a black-and-white way." Then came the apology, which reads in part:

  • "And if any of his family members and friends were to have seen me use the word 'coward,' I would be horrified. I would just [like] to apologize to the end of the earth to anyone who might think that I meant to openly call him a coward. To the core of my being, I regret it."
Click to see how Williams apparently took his own life. (More Robin Williams stories.)

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