Bette Midler has apologized for a series of tone-deaf and racially insensitive tweets she posted.

On Thursday (October 4), the Hollywood icon tweeted, "'Women are the n-word of the world,'" referencing a song written by Yoko Ono and John Lennon for their 1972 album, Some Time in New York City.

"Raped, beaten, enslaved, married off, worked like dumb animals; denied education and inheritance; enduring the pain and danger of childbirth and life IN SILENCE for THOUSANDS of years. They are the most disrespected creatures on earth," Midler continued in the since-deleted original tweet.

After hundreds of Twitter users criticized the actress for comparing her experience as a privileged white woman to the experience of the Black community—particularly Black women, who face oppression at an entirely different intersection than white women—Midler doubled down in an attempt to explain her perspective.

"I gather I have offended many by my last tweet," she wrote in a since-deleted follow-up tweet. "'Women are the…etc' is a quote from Yoko Ono from 1972, which I never forgot. It rang true then, and it rings true today, whether you like it or not. This is not about race, this is about the status of women; THEIR HISTORY."

After facing yet another outpouring of frustration over her choice of words, Midler deleted the original tweets and issued an apology.

"The too brief investigation of allegations against Kavanaugh infuriated me," she tweeted. "Angrily I tweeted w/o thinking my choice of words would be enraging to black women who doubly suffer, both by being women and by being black. I am an ally and stand with you; always have. And I apologize."

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