Howie Mandel is experiencing a change of heart. Just days after issuing an apology to Kelly Ripa following their contentious exchange on the March 24th episode of "Live With Kelly and Mark" about his appearance at 70, the "America's Got Talent" judge is questioning his decision to apologize.
"If someone is offended, if someone feels that I did something wrong, then I apologize," Howie said on the March 31st episode of "Hot Mics With Billy Bush." "I don't believe in apologizing, but as I said in that post—which I kind of regret making—'If somebody is offended, then I apologize.'" Host Billie Bush then cut in to ask why he regrets speaking out after the exchange, and the answer was quite simple. "I don't think you should apologize for a joke," Howie said. "And I do agree. People are saying it wherever I go now, I do think I look good. I don’t even think the caveat is for 70—I just think I look good."
The "Deal or No Deal" alum then reiterated that he was attempting to make a joke with Kelly, noting, "Obviously, I told a joke that didn’t land well." He continued, "Comedians always say, 'If you can make one person laugh, you’re doing the job.'" "But apparently, that’s not enough."
"I’m reading and there’s no stopping it and I don’t understand," Howie admitted. "I tried to stop it. I tried to apologize." The conversation with Kelly and husband Mark Consuelos also had another effect on Howie as he now finds himself "focusing more on my exterior."
"I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t know when this will end," he added. "And I hope it ends soon because I didn’t mean to cause any disruption. I didn’t mean to embarrass anybody."
During his appearance on Kelly and Mark's eponymous talk show, Kelly complimented Howie's appearance, saying "it doesn't make any sense" how gracefully he's aging. Howie didn't take the praise as a compliment necessarily, telling the hosts, "That doesn't mean anything. No, no, no. I don’t like that because that’s a caveat."
The "Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me" author later posted an apology on Instagram explaining that the conversation was "meant as a joke and it's not meant to offend."
"But this is for Kelly Ripa, who in the past has been incredibly supportive," he said in the March 29th video. "Not only have I been a guest on her show, but I have cohosted with her and I’ve known her for years."
"Not only do I want to say I’m sorry to Kelly but, and this is the hardest part," Howie quipped, "you’re right. You’re absolutely right. And I’m sorry I didn’t see it that way. But after a lot of thought and self-reflection, I look great for my age, I really do."
