Megyn Kelly on Wednesday apologized for suggesting the day before that blackface can be an acceptable part of a Halloween costume .

I want to begin with two words: Im sorry, Kelly said during the first portion of her hosting time on NBCs Today.

Sometimes I talk and sometimes I listen and yesterday, I learned, she told her audience. I learned that, given the history of blackface being used in awful ways by racists in this country, it is not OK for that to be part of any costume, Halloween or otherwise.

This past year has been so painful for many people of color, the country feels so divided and I have no wish to add to that pain and offense, she added.

Kelly then held a discussion with Amy Holmes and Roland Martin, two black political commentators, about race in America.

The controversy may prove to be an important empathy lesson for Kelly. Yet the former Fox News host has faced similar criticisms ever since joining NBC. Her initial appointment to Today displaced two black hosts Tamron Hall, who left the show , and Al Roker, who surrendered the third-hour slot to Kelly.

She had also just left a conservative network where she, at various times, laughed at a transgender inmates appearance, called the gender pay gap a meme and stirred more than a few controversies on racial issues.