Candace Owens has responded to Christina Applegate, after the actor slammed her comments about an advertisement featuring a woman in a wheelchair.
As previously reported, a resurfaced clip showed Owens, 33, criticizing Kim Kardashian's Adaptive campaign for SKIMS - the reality star's underwear and shapewear brand.
The footage, which had been taken from the conservative commentator's Daily Wire show, shows Owens branding the ad "ridiculous".
She also stated that it was an example of "this all-inclusivity thing" going "too far", adding: "I don't know why this needs to be done. I’m just getting tired of this all-inclusivity thing. Look, I assume that people who are in wheelchairs also have to buy bras, also have to buy underwear… I didn't know that we needed to see that in our face."
Applegate, 51, took issue with these comments - branding Owens' remarks as "f**king gross."
In a tweet, the actress - who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease of the brain and spinal cord - wrote: "Yes late tweet. But woke to see the most horrifying thing. This Candace person making comments about companies who see we need help. It's f***ing gross.
"I thank skims and Tommy and Guide beauty and [Neo Walking Sticks] for seeing [us]. You #youshouldknowbetter [sic]."
In a later tweet, she added: "Going to try and sleep but my rage is keeping me awake. Candace Owens, do you know when you have seen pictures of me how f***ing hard it was to get my clothes on? A team has to help me!!!
"So I'm excited for accessibility clothing for me and my community. Hope u wake."
In a further tweet, Applegate said that she would be happy to educate Owens on the matter, saying that her reaching out comes from a place of "love" and not "rage".
"If Candace wants to get on the phone with me to be educated on being disabled," Applegate wrote. "I will not come with anger. I will come with love. Because she needs to hear that. I pray for her tonight. [S]incerely."
Now, Owens has responded to Applegate's tweets in her own thread of commentary. "Hey Christina - huge fan of yours. Would welcome a discussion with you. DMs open," she wrote, before adding: "I think Christina, that what you may have missed is that covering absurd DEI initiatives is a recurring beat on my show.
"We actually did not know that this particular ad featured a specific technology designed for people with disabilities, which was an honest mistake."
"What we thought it was at the time, was another nonsensical 'representation matters' DEI initiative which I strongly feel patronizes the people it purports to represent. (Example: clinically obese people modeling swimsuits). This wasn't that and we simply got it wrong," Owens continued. "We create a show 5 days a week. It is an impossibility that we would not at some point make an honest mistake.
"If you felt personally targeted by this mistake, I apologize to you. We simply did not know (the ad did not state) that the underwear was created for disabled access."
Applegate has, so far, not responded to the tweets.
Though, many netizens are arguing that the model in the much-discussed ad campaign also deserves an apology from Owens, with one person writing: "This wonderful woman deserves an apology from Candice. God bless her and you. She's beautiful, like you Christina."
Haleigh Rosa - the model featured in the campaign - did weigh in on the discussion, sharing her desire to "have a conversation [with] and educate" Owens.
She told Forbes: "After getting injured I remember not seeing anyone like me in campaigns. At the same time, I was relearning simple tasks like clothing myself. It would have been so helpful to see someone in a wheelchair; I'm so happy that we're finally coming around.
"Seeing someone like you matters; representation matters. It's so often assumed that the disability community should be felt bad for. The people I know that have disabilities are some of the most resilient people.
"Wheelchair users will not agree with [Owens'] views. If [Owens] truly wants to educate herself, she can reach out to me. I'm not one for cancel culture; I believe in the power of education," she concluded.
