Mario Lopez apologized Wednesday for telling conservative commentator Candace Owens that it's "dangerous" and "alarming" for parents to honor the wishes of young children who identify with a gender other than the one assigned at birth.
Lopez originally made the comments in a June interview on "The Candance Owen Show," but the clips resurfaced and received backlash on Twitter.
During the interview, Owens and Lopez discussed what Owens called the "weird trend" of celebrities allowing their young children to choose how they identify. Charlize Theron was mentioned in the interview, as the actress revealed in April that her 7-year-old son Jackson did not identify as a boy.
Owens said she didn't understand the "new Hollywood mentality" where celebrities "think their children now have the mental authority."
Lopez agreed with Owens, saying "I am trying to understand it myself."
"Look, I’m never one to tell anyone how to parent their kids obviously and I think if you come from a place of love, you really can’t go wrong but at the same time, my God, if you're 3 years old and you’re saying you’re feeling a certain way or you think you’re a boy or a girl or whatever the case may be, I just think it's dangerous as a parent to make this determination then, well, OK, then you’re going to a boy or a girl, whatever the case may be. It's sort of alarming and my gosh, I just think about the repercussions later on," Lopez said.
Many on Twitter criticized his comments.
Others supported Lopez's views, pointing out that Lopez only said that children were too young to make these decisions for themselves, not that you shouldn't support trans people.
The longtime "Extra" host, who recently was named a host of "Access Hollywood," said in a statement released by his publicist that his remarks were "ignorant and insensitive." Lopez said the backlash has brought on a "deeper understanding" of how "hurtful" his remarks were.
Lopez may be best known for starring in the teen sitcom "Saved by the Bell."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
