Pop Goes The News — Howie Mandel, the Canadian judge on America’s Got Talent, said Tuesday he wasn’t thinking when he praised a contestant for making bulimia “entertaining.”
The 59-year-old Toronto native made the comment after a performance by professional “regurgitator” Stevie Starr.
“You, sir, make bulimia entertaining,” Mandel said, after admitting his words would “probably come out wrong.”
Almost immediately, viewers took to social media to complain.
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Other Twitter comments included: “People die from the disease you just made a mockery of” and “Sorry but jokes about eating disorders should never be made.”
Later in the show, Mandel did a mea culpa.
“I made a comment earlier, it’s live television, I wasn’t thinking,” he said. “I made light of bulimia, which is a very serious eating disorder and mental health issue. I deal with mental health all the time.
“I did something stupid. I should never make light of it and I apologize to anybody that was offended.”
The star also apologized on Twitter.
Not everyone thought Mandel had to say sorry.
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