Drake Bell Apologizes For ‘Thoughtless Insensitive’ Comments About Caitlyn Jenner

Drake Bell is finally addressing comments he made after Caitlyn Jenner’s Vanity Fair cover hit the Internet. Twitter users were outraged June 1 when the former Nickelodeon star tweeted that he would continue calling Jenner by her former male identity.

The 28-year-old actor took to Twitter to issue an apology to Jenner and the thousands of other users he had offended Thursday. As Us Weekly reported, Bell used the social media site to assure followers his apology was sincere, adding that his comments were “thoughtless” and “insensitive.” He went on to explain that he hadn’t intended to down play the struggle of people in similar situations.

Bell initially found himself in hot water when he tweeted, “Sorry...still calling you Bruce" following the release of Caitlyn's Vanity Fair cover Monday. At the time, he attempted to explain his tweet, saying he was “not dissing him,” but he didn’t want the 65 year old’s legacy as an Olympic athlete to be forgotten. After much backlash Bell deleted both tweets, though he did not immediately issue an apology.

As of the Vanity Fair July cover release, Jenner has chosen to live publicly as a woman. The "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" reality star first opened up about her struggles with gender identity on April 24 in an interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer. She revealed that for a majority of her life she felt that she had the soul of a woman, though she suppressed these feelings for many years. She shared more details about her journey in a later E! special, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians: About Bruce.” In the show, which aired May 17 and 18, Jenner was joined by her famous family as they discussed the next phases of her transition as well as the effect it had on each of them.

Jenner has not addressed Bell’s transphobic tweets nor his apology. She did, however, make sure to thank those who have supported her through this very public journey.