Megyn Kelly Gets Standing Ovation After Apologizing for Those Backwards Blackface Comments

Megyn Kelly came to quite the realization on her show this morning, admitting that no, blackface isn't cool.

The "Megyn Kelly TODAY" host came under fire on Tuesday after she made the argument that darkening or lightening one's skin as part of a Halloween costume is totally fine, during a panel with only white commentators. Those comments didn't sit well with many, including stars like Padma Lakshmi and Patton Oswalt, who called her out hard for her archaic views.

On Wednesday, she apologized for her stance, saying it was a learning moment for her.

"I'm Megyn Kelly and I want to begin with two words: I'm sorry," she began today's show. "You may have heard that yesterday we had a discussion about political correctness and Halloween costumes and that conversation turned to whether it is ever okay for a person of one race to dress up as another, a black person making their face lighter or a white person making their face darker, to make a costume complete. I defended the idea, saying as long as it was respectful and part of a Halloween costume, it seemed okay. well, I was wrong and I am sorry."

"One of the great parts of sitting in this chair each day is getting to discuss different points of view," she continued. "Sometimes I talk and sometimes I listen, and yesterday I learned. I learned that given the history of blackface being used in awful ways by racists in this country, it is not okay for that to be part of any costume, Halloween or otherwise."

"I have never been a PC kind of person but I do understand the value in being sensitive to our history, particularly on race and ethnicity," Kelly went on. "This past year has been so painful, for many people of color the country feels so divided and I have no wish to add to that pain and offense. I believe this is a time for more understanding, more love, more sensitivity and honor and I want to be part of that. Thank you for listening and for helping me listen too."

As she teared up, someone in the audience yelled, "We love you!" before they started to give her a standing ovation.

Watch the moment below:

While her audience may have eaten up her televised apology, Al Roker wasn't feeling the one she e-mailed out to the staff of "TODAY" on Tuesday.

"While she apologized to the staff, she owes a bigger apology to folks of color around the country. This is a history going back to the 1830s, minstrel shows, to demean and denigrate a race wasn't right," said Roker earlier in the morning. "I'm old enough to have lived through Amos and Andy, just magnifying the worst stereotypes about black people and that's what the problem is and that's what the issue is."

Craig Melvin also piled on, saying, "There was some criticism yesterday that this was political correctness run amok, that's silly and it's disingenuous and it's just as ignorant and racist as the statement itself"

"She said something stupid, she said something indefensible," he added. "I guess it was an opportunity for us to learn a little about blackface, but I think a lot of people knew about blackface."

"You know that no good comes from it," said Roker. "It's just not right."