Melissa McCarthy apologises after supporting controversial charity

Actress says: ‘We made a mistake and we backed a charity that upon proper vetting, stands for everything that we do not’

Melissa McCarthy has apologised after unintentionally supporting a charity with an anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion past.

This week, the actress launched a new promotional initiative, 20 days of Kindness, with HBO Max ahead of the release of her new film Superintelligence.

As part of the initiative, McCarthy and the streaming service announced they would be highlighting different charities each day leading up to the film’s release, with HBO revealing it would be donating $20,000 to a “different good cause daily".

Among the charities listed was Exodus Cry, an organisation that describes itself as “committed to abolishing sex trafficking and breaking the cycle of commercial sexual exploitation while assiting and empowering its victims”.

However, after numerous reports regarding the organisation and it’s founder Benjamin Nolot’s controversial history, which included anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ comments,  McCarthy shared a video on Instagram where she addressed the backlash and apologised.

“Hi there. It has come to our attention that our 20 Days of Kindness, which is something - a kindness that we started to kind of shine a light on 20 great charities - had one in there that, there’s no other way to say it, we blew it," she said. “We made a mistake and we backed a charity that, upon proper vetting, stands for everything that we do not.”

The Bridesmaids star then said she wanted to thank everyone on social media who had pointed out the charity’s past before explaining that the initiative has “pulled it”.

“I want to thank everyone on social media who said: ‘What are you doing? Are you sure you want to back this?’ Because the answer is no, we do not,” McCarthy continued. “We have pulled it. We are so incredibly grateful for you ringing the bell and helping us be better.

“We’re sorry for our mistake. Oh boy, are we sorry for it. Can’t believe that we missed it. And that’s it.”

The actress concluded the video adding that she “hopes” the mistake “doesn't ding the other charities,” because “they’re really doing some amazing things”.

“So, let the kindness continue and thank you. Thanks for the help, we really needed it."

In response to McCarthy’s video, many fans praised her for addressing the concerns regarding the charity and for removing it from the initiative.

“Classy - all the way! We ALL make mistakes. It’s okay to say oops, fix it and move on. Thank you for showing how it’s done,” one person wrote.

Another commented: “Way to own it, address it and move on. You’ve inspired me to do my own 20 days of kindness. Thank you!”

HBO Max also addressed the incident, telling E! News: “We were made aware of the issues surrounding Exodus Cry and have removed them from the list of partners associated with the 20 Days of kindness campaign.”