“I screwed up; I did,” she said. “The comment I made about dance was insensitive. It was stupid, and I am deeply sorry.”
Spencer, who had been widely criticized for laughing as she announced that Prince George would be studying ballet, next introduced an interview she did with three male dancers, who all talked about the social stigma of being a male dancer.
Robbie Fairchild, one of the three, spoke about being laughed at by other boys in middle school when they spotted him dancing through the window.
“I can’t tell you how much that hurts,” said Fairchild, star of “An American in Paris” on Broadway and a former principal dancer at New York City Ballet.
He and the other dancers said they accepted Spencer’s apology.
“The fact that you are able to be here and talk with us is really important,” Fairchild said, “because we are a community of love, and in order for us to move forward, we have to move forward together.”
The other two dancers were Fabrice Calmels of the Joffrey Ballet and Travis Wall of “So You Think You Can Dance.”
Among the people who had criticized Spencer last week was choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, who said on Instagram, “Ballet has made me the man I am today.” He continued: “Growing up as a boy in ballet class was not easy, I mean talk about perfect fodder for bullying! It was painful but worth every second.”
Outrage from the dance community and beyond continued to bubble over on social media over the weekend. Debbie Allen and Wall both posted videos online expressing disappointment in Spencer’s comments.
Derek Hough and Cheryl Burke, dancers who have both been part of the “Dancing With the Stars” professional ensemble, also commented on Spencer’s remarks online. Both “Dancing With the Stars” and “Good Morning America” air on ABC. Many members of the Broadway community also posted their reactions, including Chita Rivera and Michael Cerveris.
“Some of us take ballet. Some of us win Tony Awards because we took ballet,” Jerry Mitchell, who has won two Tonys for his choreography of “Kinky Boots” and “La Cage aux Folles,” said in a video posted on Instagram.
Disappointed posts and reactions still popped up even after Spencer’s first apology on Instagram, with actresses Shoshana Bean and Julie Halston saying it wasn’t enough.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.