Stephen King apologized for a tweet in which he used the term "palpable b----ery" while weighing in on Dylan Farrow's accusation of sex abuse against Woody Allen.
King tweeted the message after author Mary Karr tweeted a think piece written by the New Inquiry's Aaron Bady about innocence, guilt and rape culture.
When King's response was met with backlash from the Twitter community, he backpedaled.
He later took to his website to offer a long-form apology for putting his foot in his mouth "and halfway down [his] throat."
"A good many people came away from my tweet about the Woody Allen controversy with the idea that I had called Dylan Farrow or Mia Farrow (or both) a b---h," he wrote. "That wasn’t my intention, but the conclusion on the part of some readers is understandable. I used the wrong word to describe not Ms. Farrow -- either Ms. Farrow -- but a sad and painful mess. Some people seem to believe that writers never use the wrong word, but any editor can tell you that’s not true."
He went on to say: "I have plenty of respect for women, and care about the problems and life-situations they face. My single-mom mother faced plenty, believe me. And I have no sympathy whatever for those who abuse children."
Farrow's open letter about the alleged sex abuse that occurred when she was seven years old was published by The New York Times on Feb. 1. Since then, many have spoken out about the accusations, including Lena Dunham, who called Farrow "courageous."
Woody Allen's lawyer, Elkan Abramowitz, denied the allegations, saying on behalf of his client that the story was "engineered by a vengeful lover."
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