Wendy Williams In Hot Water For Offensive Comments About Bruce Jenner

  

Daytime talk show host Wendy Williams is coming under fire for offensive comments made about reality TV star and former Olympian Bruce Jenner.

Earlier this week, Williams navigated into problematic territory when discussing Jenner's change in appearance, catching the attention of GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. During the "Hot Topics" segment of her show, Williams discussed a recent picture of Jenner on his 65th birthday smoking a cigarette and wearing what appeared to be pink nail polish. The talk show host reportedly stated:

"Thank God he waited for his kids to grow up before making this transition or whatever it is he's going through. Can you imagine how awful it would be for those kids if he showed up with a blowout, a shaved Adam's apple, pink nail polish and smoking a cigarette at a PTA meeting? Could you imagine?"

In a statement to TheWrap, Ellis responded to these comments saying:

“To suggest that a person's nail polish color or hairstyle would inflict harm on their children is just ludicrous. What does inflict harm, however, is gross and invasive speculation about a person's gender identity.”

As Access Hollywood Live notes, Williams also made positive comments about Jenner:

"I think society in general — you might not like [someone who is LGBT] but you damn sure are outnumbered if you say something about it… I don’t know what he’s on his way to doing. All I know is that I’m happy for him because he’s able to live in his own truth… One step at a time, everybody. One step at a time, we will get through this together."

Still, this isn't the first time Williams has come under for making problematic and offensive comments. The above clip features a previous episode where Williams also gunned for Jenner, this time chastising him for allegedly dating Kris' former best friend. The teasing this time, however, came from speculation about Jenner's sexuality, which received laughing and jeering from the crowd. “Bruce Jenner is reportedly dating…” Williams paused prior to offering the punchline, “A WOMAN! And her name is Ron... da!”

During a debate earlier this year about transgender athlete Chloie Jonsson's lawsuit against CrossFit for alleged discriminatory practices, Williams organized a panel to discuss the nature of these charges. Williams told viewers that she agreed Jonsson should not be permitted to compete in the women's division at the CrossFit Games, due to the fact that "this is an unfair advantage... you can take away female parts or male parts or whatever -- it's like Chaz Bono! You know Chaz is a man now, but I bet she [sic] still fights like a girl like the rest of us and she's [sic] not as strong as a man who was born a man."