Jackie Oshry, cohost of the podcast The Morning Toast with her sister Claudia Oshry of @GirlWithNoJob, is responding to pushback from fans over a comment she made about her personal safety and the quality of movie theaters in the United States.
During the taping of Tuesday's podcast episode, Jackie shared that she's begun to feel safer "with the elevation of the movie theater experience." According to her logic, mass shootings are less likely to happen in nicer theaters. She said she used to feel scared going to movies in the past.
"I don't feel that way anymore with the elevation of the movie theater experience, with iPic and some of the nicer movie theaters," she said. Claudia agreed she's felt more "relaxed" going to movies in general.
"If you're going to shoot up a movie theater, it's not going to be the most expensive one," Jackie concluded.
@girlwithnojob You can edit it out. But here we go.
The comment caused infighting and confusion in the comment sections of the podcast's Instagram page and in a private Facebook group for avid listeners, one of them told BuzzFeed News.
Many people asked Jackie to clarify and/or apologize for her statements.
Jackie then responded to the discussion in a Facebook comment, attempting to clarify her points.
"Overall, I was just saying I've been feeling safer in movie theaters ... because why would a shooter pay $30 for a movie when they can pay $15. That's it," she wrote.
She apologized to "anyone who was hurt by what [she]" said."
When reached, Jackie told BuzzFeed News she will not be editing out the comment. Nor will she be apologizing for it.
"I responded to the conversation on today's episode of The Morning Toast," she said, providing a link to Wednesday's live episode titled "The One About Apologizing."
On the episode, Jackie, alongside Claudia, acknowledged the backlash and the listener community's pressure for her to atone for her remarks. However, she said, she's not going to apologize, because "people are making it so much more than it is."
"Yesterday I offended some people on this show about movie theaters. There was a lot of talk about it. People really want me to apologize, and I've thought about this ... and I'm not going to apologize for what I said, because people are making it so much more than it is. And I don't want to condone doing that," she said.
Last year, Claudia issued a tearful apology on Instagram for what she called "really disgusting, vile, stupid tweets" after it became publicly known that she and Jackie were daughters of Pamela Geller, an anti-Muslim conservative firebrand and hardcore Trump supporter.
This time around, they're sticking by their comments. They said they wanted to retain the "light and laughter" of their show.
"I think it's important on this show that I reserve the right to do that — that's how we get through things that are difficult to talk about, shedding a little light and laughter on the subject," said Jackie. "I think it's important that we do that. There are enough shows out there that will handle serious matters very seriously. And you can get that experience somewhere else."