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Melania Trump delivers a speech on the first day of the Republican National Convention. | Alex Wong/Getty Images N.Y. Times reprimands reporter for sharing 'unfounded rumor' about Melania Trump

Editors at the New York Times have reprimanded a reporter for referring to first lady Melania Trump as a “hooker” at an event Sunday night, calling the remarks “completely inappropriate.”

The reporter in question, features writer Jacob Bernstein, came under fire Monday morning after supermodel Emily Ratajkowski made the reporter’s remarks public in a series of tweets. Ratajkowski, who said the reporter made the remarks while sitting next to her at a New York Fashion Week event, called the comment “disgusting sexist bull---t.”

“At a party last night, a Times reporter who does not cover Washington or politics, referred to an unfounded rumor regarding Melania Trump,” a Times spokesperson said in a statement to POLITICO. “The comment was not intended to be public, but it was nonetheless completely inappropriate and should not have occurred. Editors have talked to the reporter in question about the lapse.”

Neither Ratajkowski nor the Times identified Bernstein as the reporter in question, but on Tuesday, Bernstein apologized on Twitter for making the comment.

"Speaking at a party in what I thought was a personal conversation, I nevertheless made a stupid remark about the first lady," Bernstein wrote. "My editors have made it clear my behavior was not in keeping with the standards of the Times, and I agree."

"My mistake, referring to unfounded rumors, shouldn’t reflect on anyone else and I apologize profusely," he added.

While the Times, in its initial statement, said that the reporter "does not cover Washington or politics," Bernstein has at several times written about the Trump family, especially as the family is connected to the fashion world.

Trump is suing the U.K.-based media company Daily Mail for running an article that included the unfounded rumor that she had once been a “high-end escort.” Trump recently settled a defamation suit with a Maryland-based blogger, who has since retracted and issued a lengthy apology for repeating two rumors about the first lady on his blog.

This story has been updated to include the identity of the New York Times reporter and the apology he issued Tuesday.