Fox Business Network issued an apology Friday for comments made by frequent O’Reilly Factor guest Bernard McGuirk about Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday morning’s edition of Imus in the Morning. McGuirk, who serves as an executive producer for Don Imus’ radio show, which is simulcast by Fox Business each morning, called Cook a “bigot” over an op-ed he published in opposition to Indiana’s “religious freedom” law.

“You have this hypocrite, this bigot hypocrite, Tim Cook, who is running his mouth about the whole thing,” McGuirk said. “He sells products to Iran. He sells products to Saudi Arabia where they execute people if they’re gay.”

“A hypocrite maybe, but a bigot?” guest host Dagen McDowell asked in response.

“A religious bigot, yeah,” he added, doubling down. “He won’t allow these religious people to exercise their freedom.” Later, McGuirk added, “Tim Cook has to put his money where his mouth is. If he really feels that way stop marketing Apple products in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Nigeria where they not only dump on women and treat them as second class citizens but as I said they would execute gay people.”

RELATED: Carly Fiorina: Tim Cook ‘Hypocritical’ for Opposing Religious Freedom Law

FBN Anchor Dagen McDowell read the following statement on air Friday:

“Earlier this week on the Imus in the Morning radio program, which is simulcast on this network, there was a comment made calling Apple CEO, Tim Cook, a bigot. The Fox Business Network would like to make it clear that we in no way believe that. Mr. Cook runs a company that is an American success story and Apple has become a worldwide brand.”

Cook, who came out as gay last fall, used an economic argument to express his opposition to the Indiana law.

“America’s business community recognized a long time ago that discrimination, in all its forms, is bad for business,” he wrote. “At Apple, we are in business to empower and enrich our customers’ lives. We strive to do business in a way that is just and fair.”

Watch video below, via FBN:

[Photo via screengrab]

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