Sherri Shepherd Apologizes for Perceived Antigay Comments

Sherri Shepherd has apologized for perceived antigay comments she made during a recent interview with Fusion, reports E! Online.

The talk show cohost says comments she made about disagreeing with the "lifestyle" of LGBT people and believing "you're going to hell if you're a homosexual" were misleading, and that the program omitted a crucial part of her statement where she said her views have evolved. On Tuesday's episode of The View, Shepherd addressed the discrepancies in her interveiw with the Fusion network's Alicia Menendez.

"I'm truly sorry to anyone I've offended with the viewpoints I expressed on Alicia Menendez Tonight on the Fusion network," Shepherd said. "My interview was misrepresented, and only a portion of my comments were used as a headline to give the impression that I was condemning members of the LGBT community living in their own truth. In the interview, I express I was raised as a child to have a certain set of beliefs, but my beliefs have evolved significantly as my own personal relationship with Christ has increased."

"I believe that love is the grace of all things and I have no desire to judge anybody by who they are," she continued. "I'm a person of compassion and anyone who knows me knows that I love, I accept, I embrace everybody who has love in their hearts. So I love you."

Shepherd isn't the only TV personality this week to claim comments they made were misinterpreted as antigay. Juan Pablo Galavis of ABC's The Bachelor issued two separate apologies after he ignited angry criticism for telling a reporter that to protect children watching at home, there should never be a gay version of the dating show in which he currently stars. Instead, Galavis claimed he misspoke, siting a lack of English fluency.

"Everyone knows English is my second language and my vocabulary is not as broad as it is in Spanish," he wrote in a Facebook post Saturday. "I want to apologize to all the people I may have offended because of my comments on having a Gay or Bisexual Bachelor. The comment was taken out of context. If you listen to the entire interview, there's nothing but respect for Gay people and their families."