Melissa Harris-Perry makes tearful on-air apology after sketch made Mitt Romney's adopted black grandson the butt of jokes

MSNBC host apologizes to Republican and other inter-racial families

Show slammed as offensive after guests suggested captions for portrait

Panelist Dean Obeidallah compared the largely white family to 'the diversity of the Republican party'

Sarah Palin called the joke 'despicable' and said MSNBC should be ashamed of itself



TV host Melissa Harris-Perry started her weekend show with an apology after viewers complained that a segment the previous week was offensive.



Complaints were made after panelists gave comic captions for photos of key moments in the past year, including a family portrait of Mitt Romney which showed his adopted African-American grandson.



After admitting the section was in poor judgment, the MSNBC host was close to crying as she apologized to the Romneys and other inter-racial families.

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Apology: MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry offered an apology to the Romneys and other inter-racial families

What had been meant as a fun review of the year spiraled into a segment where the youngest Romney, Kieran, became the butt of political jokes.



Comedian Dean Obeidallah had said: ' It really sums up the diversity of the Republican party, the RNC. At the convention, they find the one black person.'

Kieran, pictured with his mother Andelyne, has been adopted by Mitt Romney's son Ben

And actress Pia Glenn added: 'One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just isn't the same.'

Although Harris-Perry, who is African-American, did not directly ridicule the baby, she said during her apology on MSNBC that the idea behind the segment was the result of 'poor judgment'.

'Given my own family history I identified with that picture and I intended to say positive and celebratory things,' she said.



'But whatever the intent was, the reality was the segment proceeded in a way that was offensive.'

She added: 'My intention was not malicious but I broke the ground rule that families are off limits.'

Forrmer Republican governor Sarah Palin was among those who criticized the show, saying MSNBC should be ashamed of itself for allowing the segment to go to air.

'Leftist media hounds are not expressing an opinion with this attack; they are expressing a prejudice that would never be accepted if it came from anyone else but the lib[eral] media,' Palin wrote on her Facebook page in a post accompanying the photo of the Romney family.

In the broadcast of her apology, Harris-Perry's voice cracked with emotion as she said the core principle of her show was to advocate diversity.

She said: 'I am deeply sorry that we suggested that inter-racial families are in anyway funny or deserving of ridicule.'



Harris-Perry responded to her critics, saying she was 'genuinely appreciative of everyone who offered criticisms' and adding: 'I am reminded that our fiercest critics can sometimes be our best teachers.'

'Poor judgment': Harris-Perry apologized for asking guests to comment on the Romney family portrait

Obeidallah has also sought to defend himself in an article on the Daily Beast.

He said he had received scores of nasty tweets from people calling him a 'baby-bullying bigot.'



'You may think [my joke was]funny, unfunny, cliché, idiotic, etc. Comedy is subjective,' he wrote.



'But say what you will about my quip, I didn't criticize the Romney family for adopting the baby nor did I mock baby Kieran in any way. Nor would I.



'My joke was about the lack of racial diversity we see at the Republican National Convention - a topic lampooned for years by comedians.'