KEY POINTS

  • Sarah Silverman took a jab at Paris Hilton's jail time at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards
  • Silverman said she immediately regretted uttering the joke, especially after seeing Hilton's reaction
  • She wrote a note to Hilton to apologize shortly after the incident, but the socialite never received it

Sarah Silverman is apologizing to Paris Hilton more than a decade after she made an "ugly" joke about the socialite at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards.

Silverman admitted Thursday on her podcast that she felt guilty "immediately" after making fun of Hilton a day before the latter was set to begin serving her 45-day jail sentence due to driving violations following her arrest for a suspected DUI.

In her monologue during the awards show, Silverman said of Hilton, "I heard that to make her feel comfortable in prison, the guards are going to paint the bars to look like penises. I just worry that she's gonna break her teeth on those things."

On "The Sarah Silverman Podcast," the comedian said she regretted uttering the joke right after, especially after seeing Hilton's reaction. In fact, Silverman wrote a note to her apologizing for the joke almost immediately after the show but never heard back from her. She later learned that the socialite didn't get it and apologized again.

"The crowd went bananas, and while I was thrilled at the success of my monologue, I remember spotting her in the audience, I really do, and I remember seeing that look on her face and my heart sank," she recalled. "There was a person under there. A couple days later I wrote her a letter apologizing, felt awful and I never heard back, I certainly wouldn't expect to anyways."

"I regretted the jokes not years later, but kind of immediately," Silverman admitted. "I wrote to let her know, but I know now that the letter didn't get to her. So, here I am, 14 years later, telling you, Paris, that I am really sorry. I was then and I am, much more completely and with far more understanding, I think, now. I felt it the second I saw your face that night. It feels terrible to know you have hurt someone and it's important to make it right. So, I hope this does that."

On the "This is Paris" podcast this week, Hilton and her sister, Nicky, spoke with E! News' Hunter March and revisited the incident. Hilton recalled that she did her best to look composed in the audience but felt like she wanted "to die" on the inside.

Hilton added that she wanted to run out of the entire room but decided to stay strong while the audience laughed. It was even more painful because she had other personal struggles at the time as well.

Meanwhile, Nicky slammed Silverman for the "disgusting, vile, perverted statements, adding, "Imagine if that happened today? It wouldn't."

Sarah Silverman
Comedian Sarah Silverman during an interview on "Late Night With Seth Meyers" Sept. 25, 2014 Photo by: Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images