Rainn Wilson has apologised for a joke he cracked on social media which took aim at transgender people.
The 56-year-old actor, who is best known for playing Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom The Office, took to Twitter to say that he has been "educating" himself after speaking to transgender friends.
Rainn had caused consternation when he posted on Twitter: "TIL you can no longer say 'nursing or breastfeeding mother' you have to say 'chestfeeding person.'"
He faced a backlash from the trans community, who took offence at his words and today the actor has looked to repair the damage caused by his quip.
Writing on Twitter, Rainn told his followers: "Yesterday I tweeted a mean crack about breastfeeding vs chestfeeding.
"After speaking with some Trans friends and educating myself a bit more I want to apologize for the tweet.
"It was adding to misinformation and meanness. I’m sorry."
After he was hit by a number of complaints for his original tweet, Rainn was praised for his apology and that he was taking positive steps to learn more about being transgender.
One fan commented on his post: "You’re a good person Rainn, thank you for sharing this"
Another added: "Thank you for educating yourself and doing better"
While a third wrote: "Thanks for the apology - I had just heard about the joke but I'm glad to see this is the first thing on your page when I came to check it out."
The apology comes a day after Rainn spoke about the lasting impact of The Office, which is the US version of Ricky Gervais' original sitcom.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Rainn said: "I think about The Office a lot because it’s become so culturally iconic.
"You know, obviously I’m recognised all the time, and they are always doing new stuff with The Office.
"It's playing in different parts of the world and there's different kinds of merchandise coming out and books and podcasts and whatnot. So that does make me end up thinking about it quite a lot."
Rainn continued: "I really am super grateful. I know a lot of people that were on television shows for a very long time and no one thinks about or watches their television show anymore.
"And, you know, they got some nice paychecks, but that’s it."
He concluded: "But the fact that we were able to make something that still resonates, especially with young people today, is really miraculous."
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