BET Founder Apologizes To Barack Obama

Black Entertainment Television (BET) founder Bob Johnson has offered an apology to Barack Obama for his recent comments regarding the Presidential Democratic hopeful.

According to CNN reports, Johnson says he has sent an apology letter and was reaching out by phone to Obama.

In addition to being the founder and former owner of BET, Johnson is also the first black billionaire and a strong supporter of Obama's Democratic rival, Hilary Clinton. He recently took to Clinton's defense and accused the Obama campaign of twisting her words regarding the civil rights movements.

As previously reported, the controversy began over a comment made by Clinton regarding Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Clinton was quoted as saying "Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It took a President to get it done."

This remark upset many black leaders, as they thought it implied that Lyndon Johnson was more influential than the late civil rights activist in the race for equality.

Johnson felt there was no harm in Clinton's comment and instead cast blame on the Obama team.

On Sunday (Jan. 13) at a Clinton campaign stop in South Carolina, Johnson said, "As an African-American, I'm frankly insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Bill and Hillary Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues when Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood that -- and I won't say what he was doing, but he said it in his book -- when they have been involved."

Critics felt Johnson was trying to take aim at Obama for his admitted drug use as a teenager.

In a statement following Johnson's remarks, the Clinton campaign claimed Johnson had been "referring to Barack Obama's time spent as a community organizer and nothing else. Any other suggestion is simply irresponsible and incorrect."

This explanation did not do it for the Obama campaign.

A spokesman for Obama, responded, saying "His tortured explanation doesn't hold up against his original statement. And it's troubling that neither the campaign nor Sen. Clinton -- who was there as the remark was made -- is willing to condemn it as they did when another prominent supporter recently said a similar thing,"

Clinton has since admitted that the comments were out of line, but says she will accept his explanation.

"Johnson has put out a statement saying what he was trying to say and what he thought he had said," Sen. Clinton said. "And we accept him on his word on that."

A spokesman for Obama, responded Thursday afternoon, saying, "Obama accepts the apology. We're going to leave it at that."