Comedian Natasha Leggero doesn't apologize for her Pearl Harbor joke on New Year's Eve in response to the SpaghettiOs outrage

Petite and quirky comedian Natasha Leggero recently got hit with some backlash after a joke she made on NBC's New Years Eve with Carson Daly. Daly prompted the joke when he asked both Leggero and Jane Lynch to share their thoughts on the recent response to an allegedly offensive tribute in remembrance of Pearl Harbor made by SpaghettiOs on Twitter. (It features a particularly enthusiastic SpaghettiO holding the American flag).

After Lynch responded by saying that the only thing she was offended about was that SpaghettiOs were being referred to as "pasta," Leggero said, "It sucks that the only surviving members of Pearl Harbor are being mocked by the only food they can still chew."

Since making the remark, Leggero has apparently been overwhelmed with comments and messages from people, including death threats, but she won't apologize for something that she doesn't believe to be inherently wrong. This joke came from a woman who is known for being explicitly raunchy and outrageous with her comedy. Her book was titled "Coke Money."

Like many other comedians who get called out, she did feel the need to clear the air, in one way or another. In a statement issued on Leggero's blog she says:

"I wish I could apologize, but do you really want another insincere apology that you know is just an attempt at damage control and not a real admission of guilt? Let me just try instead to be honest. I'm not sorry. I don't think the amazing courage of American veterans and specifically those who survived Pearl Harbor is in any way diminished by a comedian making a joke about dentures on television. Do we really believe that the people who fought and defended our freedom against Nazis and the Axis powers will find a joke about Spaghetti O's too much to bear?"

She adds:

"On the one hand you have me, making a joke about how old people can't chew tough foods very well. On the other hand you have Veterans who receive inadequate care upon their return from active duty, rampant sexual assault against female soldiers, staggering rates of suicide, traumatic brain injury, PTSD, substance abuse and depression among soldiers and political gridlock that prevents these problems from getting solved quickly. Where do you think your outrage and action would be better served, calling me a cunt or doing something about the above problems?"

Read Leggero's entire statement here.