Sarah Silverman says she 'immediately' regretted Paris Hilton jokes at 2007 MTV Movie Awards and wrote her to apologize
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UPDATE: Following Sarah Silverman's lengthy apology for her remarks about Paris Hilton at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards, the latter released a special 10-minute episode of her This is Paris podcast addressing Silverman's remarks.
"She was so genuine and so sweet, and it really moved me. I felt emotional hearing it, and I could tell that she really did mean what she said when she was apologizing," Hilton said. "Thank you. I really appreciate you doing that. I know it's difficult for anyone to apologize, and for someone to do that really means a lot."
Hilton also said she never got the apologetic letter Silverman claimed to have sent her after the 2007 ceremony, but that she "would've loved to have read it" at the time.
"Apologies are never late," she finished, adding that she can start with a "clean, fresh slate" with Silverman going forward.
EARLIER: After Paris Hilton spoke up about the ridicule she endured from comedians at the time of her three-week stint in jail back in 2007, Sarah Silverman (one of the parties accused) has responded on the latest episode of her podcast The Sarah Silverman Project.
Earlier this week, on Hilton's new podcast This Is Paris, the socialite and her sister Nicky discussed the jokes Silverman made at Hilton's expense at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards, while she sat in the audience. "What Sarah Silverman did was so disgusting and so cruel and mean," said Hilton. "I was so shocked and surprised because I'd actually met her a few years before when I was at an event and she couldn't be nicer. So sweet. I knew I was about to check myself into jail in a couple hours [so I was] trying to be brave. To sit in the audience with her just literally publicly humiliating me, being so mean, so cruel [about my prison time], I was sitting there wanting to die. I was trying to hold back my tears so hard. I had tears welling in my eyes, I wanted to run out of the entire room, but I just was trying to be strong and sit there, and the whole audience is laughing and she would not stop. It was so painful."
John Shearer/WireImage; Steve Granitz/WireImage
Two days later, Silverman has responded, owning her actions and acknowledging the pain she caused Hilton. The comedian began Thursday's episode of her podcast by admitting that this kind of thing would never happen today and that now that we exist in "an awakened world," she's "super down with reflecting on the past" and her part in "perpetuating real ugly sh—."
Silverman went on to retell the story of the 2007 MTV Movie Awards, where she made jokes at Hilton's expense, making crude comments about how the socialite would be spending her time in jail. She says she did all of this before realizing that Hilton was sitting in the audience right in front of her. "The crowd went bananas," remembered Silverman of the evening. "While I was thrilled at the success of my monologue, I remember spotting her in the audience, I really do. I remember seeing that look on her face and my heart sank because there was a person under there."
The comedian shared that having immediately realized her mistake, she then wrote to Hilton to express her regret a couple of days later. "I felt awful," she said. "I never heard back. I certainly wouldn't expect to anyway, but on her podcast the other day, she said she never heard from me which just bums me out, because I guess it never got to her. I don't know how that happened. I'm just real sorry my note didn't get to her because I really meant it."
Representatives for Hilton didn't immediately return EW's request for comment on receipt of the letter.
Accepting that the note never reached Hilton, Silverman added, "So here I am 14 years later, telling you, Paris, that I am really sorry. I was then and I am much more completely, and with more understanding, I think, now. I can't imagine what you were going through at that time."
Silverman ended the segment by admitting that her "understanding of humanity through the lens of my work as a comedian had not yet merged" at that time. "Comedy is not evergreen," she said. "We can't change the past so what's crucial is that we change with the times. I can imagine Paris is probably reflecting and apologizing for stuff and I say good on her for that. We both played mean characters and they had our real names. So Paris, I hope that you accept my apology and I hope that you feel my remorse. I felt it the second I saw your face that night. It feels terrible to know that you have hurt someone and it's important to make it right so I hope this does that."
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