Mario Lopez's Future At 'Access Hollywood' Uncertain After Transgender Comments

Mario Lopez's future as a co-host on NBC's "Access Hollywood" is facing new uncertainty due to his recent comments regarding transgender children. The controversy arose from the "Extra" host's appearance on a June 23 episode of "The Candace Owens Show" where he stated that he believed it is "dangerous" for any parent to determine if their child is going to identify as another gender.

"Look, I’m never one to tell anyone how to parent their kids, obviously, and I think if you come from a place of love, you really can’t go wrong," he said.

Continuing, the host added, "But at the same time, my God, if you’re 3 years old and you’re saying you’re feeling a certain way, or you think you’re a boy or a girl or whatever the case may be, I just think it’s dangerous as a parent to make that determination then — ‘Okay, well then you’re going to be a boy or a girl,’ whatever the case may be. It’s sort of alarming and my gosh, I just think about the repercussions later on."

The remarks sparked a swift backlash from many people and organizations, including GLAAD. As seen in the tweet below, they noted that Lopez's sentiments have been discredited over the years by both medical and psychological experts.

Medical and psychological experts, and parents of children who are transgender, have long discredited the ideas that @MarioLopezExtra shared. The real dangerous action is when someone with a public platform uses bad science to speak against a vulnerable group of children. https://t.co/kz2pEMWTBm
— GLAAD (@glaad) July 31, 2019

For his part, Lopez issued an apology via People on Wednesday in which he stated that his comments were "ignorant and insensitive."

"I have always been and always will be an ardent supporter of the LGBTQ community, and I am going to use this opportunity to better educate myself. Moving forward I will be more informed and thoughtful," he said.

However, it has been reported by Radar Online that the "Extra" host needed to be convinced by his camp to say that he regretted making the statements. "No one in his camp knew how they would be able to spin this and justify his remarks," an insider said, adding, "They told him to make an apology, stat!"

Even though the TV personality released the aforementioned apology, executives at NBC are said to have held an "emergency meeting" this week in order to discuss his future on the entertainment show because "they do not see how they can just let this fly," reports Radar Online.

Lopez was set to take over Natalie Morales' former job as a co-host of "Access Hollywood" next month, but it remains unclear if that is still the case.