Photo: Getty

Since his comments about Adele being “a little too fat,” predictably started an internet shit storm earlier this week, Karl Lagerfeld has released a statement to Paris’ Metro paper, saying his quote was “taken out of context.” How do you say “back-pedaling” in French?

Karl told the paper:

“I’d like to say to Adele that I am your biggest admirer. Sometimes when you take a sentence out of the article it changes the meaning of the thought. What I said was in relation to Lana Del Rey and the sentence has since been taken out of context from how it was originally published. I actually prefer Adele, she is my favorite singer and I am a great admirer of her. I lost over 30 kilos over 10 years ago and have kept it off. I know how it feels when the press is mean to you in regards to your appearance. Adele is a beautiful girl. She is the best. And I can’t wait for her next CD.”

Good to hear Karl apologizing–and in an especially thoughtful and self-reflective way. But come on, don’t you think Karl could have been a little choosier with his words in the first place? Calling someone fat–to a newspaper no less–is never okay.

Is an apology to Russian men everywhere for calling them ugly up next? Or imagining that Michelle Obama once said to a reporter “Why you don’t like my big black ass?” (the First Lady’s office of communications denied she’d ever said that). Somehow we doubt that.