Mario Lopez issued an apology after controversial comments he made about transgender children and their parents had come under fire.
Lopez called his statements "ignorant and insensitive" in an apology issued to INSIDER on Wednesday.
"The comments I made were ignorant and insensitive, and I now have a deeper understanding of how hurtful they were," the statement reads. "I have been and always will be an ardent supporter of the LGBTQ community, and I am going to use this opportunity to better educate myself. Moving forward I will be more informed and thoughtful."
The transphobic comments originated during an appearance on "The Candace Owens Show" in June, when Lopez shared his thoughts on what Owens referred to as the "weird trend" of parents accepting their child's gender identity.
Read more: 30 celebrities who are openly proud about being LGBTQ
"If you're 3 years old and you're saying you're feeling a certain way or you think you're a boy or a girl or whatever the case may be, I just think it's dangerous as a parent to make this determination," Lopez said.
"It's sort of alarming and my gosh, I just think about the repercussions later on."
Lopez later confused gender identity with sexuality, telling Owens, "When you're a kid ... you don't know anything about sexuality yet. You're just a kid."
Since Lopez's comments resurfaced earlier this week, he's been called out by countless people on Twitter, including "Queer Eye" stars Jonathan Van Ness and Karamo Brown.
