Lara Spencer wanted to turn a negative into a positive.
Last week, the Good Morning America co-anchor came under fire for comments she made about Prince George taking ballet class at school. Last Thursday, she reported on the young royal's school curriculum and laughed along with some members of the audience and fellow anchor George Stephanopoulos when the topic of his dancing came up. "Oh, he looks so happy about the ballet class," she said as images of the 6-year-old showed on the screen. "Prince William says George absolutely loves ballet. I have news for you Prince William—We'll see how long that lasts."
After her comments spurred criticism online, Spencer issued an apology, writing on Instagram, "My sincere apologies for an insensitive comment I made in pop news yesterday. From ballet to anything one wants to explore in life, I say GO FOR IT. I fully believe we should all be free to pursue our passions. Go climb your mountain—and love every minute of it."
Returning to TV on Monday, the anchor reiterated her regret. "I screwed up. I did. The comment I made about dance was insensitive, it was stupid and I am deeply sorry," she said on-air.
However, the subject didn't end there. "I've spoken with several members of the dance community over the past few days, I have listened, I have learned about the bravery it takes for a young boy to pursue a career in dance and last night I sat down with three influential dancers who have lived it firsthand," she said, introducing a taped package featuring famous dancers Robbie Fairchild, Travis Wall and Fabrice Calmels.
"The fact that all of us are sitting here with you and you are brave enough to open up about something that may have come out not intentionally how you meant it, but it came out, the fact that you were able to be here and talk with us is really important because we are a community of love and in order for us to move forward, we have to move forward together," Fairchild, who is set to star in the film adaptation of Cats in December, told her.
"I want more boys to dance. We make such beautiful art and we create such beautiful moments in this world and I wish the world would dance more," Wall, choreographer of So You Think You Can Dance, told her of his message for the show.
"I just wish people would be open-minded and understand what others are doing," Calmels, a ballet dancer, said. "More empathy would be lovely. I teach young kids and boys—they just drop [out] because of the stigma, the social stigma around the form. Children should be entitled to experience things without being bullied."
After their discussion, Spencer thanked the men for the chance to talk. "For me, the lesson is that words hurt and it was not my intention, but it was insensitive and I thank you all for giving me the opportunity to apologize personally to you and for you guys coming in here to sit and talk to me and to educate me," she told them. "Again, I'm really sorry."
"Apology accepted," Fairchild told her.