The Slatest

Fox News Anchor Apologizes for Calling Robin Williams “a Coward”

Fox News host Shepard Smith has apologized for calling veteran actor Robin Williams “a coward.” During a special report only hours after Williams’ death, Smith tried to eulogize the actor, but seemed more indignant about the impact of Williams’ apparent suicide on his family. Smith began with an anecdote from Williams about the comedian reading his favorite book to his daughter, Zelda. The anchor, however, seemed to get carried away with his emotions:

One of the children he so loved, one of the children grieving tonight. Because their father killed himself in a fit of depression. It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? You could love three little things so much, watch them grow, they’re in their mid-20s, and they’re inspiring you, and exciting you, and they fill you up with the kind of joy you could never have known. 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.

In his apology, Smith claims he was simply “wondering aloud” what could have made Williams want to take his life. “But no matter how you process it: Look at what this family is going through,” he said.

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