Virginia's first lady apologized Wednesday after a state employee reportedly told lawmakers and the governor's office that Pam Northam handed out cotton to the woman's daughter and another black child during a recent tour of the governor's mansion, NBC News reported.

"I regret that I have upset anyone," Northam said. "I am still committed to chronicling the important history of the Historic Kitchen, and will continue to engage historians and experts on the best way to do so in the future."

Northam had asked the children to imagine picking cotton as enslaved Africans, according to The Washington Post. Leah Dozier Walker wrote that Northam's actions "do not lead me to believe that this Governor’s office has taken seriously the harm and hurt they have caused African Americans in Virginia."

Gov. Ralph Northam's office said the two students were not singled out, which was verified by another parent of a student present. The incident comes in the wake of the governor's own blackface scandal.

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