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Food personality Adam Richman 'incredibly sorry' for 'crude' Instagram rant

Adam Richman, the host of the new NBC show "Food Fighters," apologized for his "inappropriate" and "crude" rant toward several people on Instagram last month that resulted in one of his shows on the Travel Channel being shelved. "Simply put, I got into a silly social media argument, and I lashed out in just a really inappropriate, really crude way, and...I'm incredibly sorry about my actions,'' R

Adam Richman, the host of the new NBC show "Food Fighters," apologized for his "inappropriate" and "crude" rant toward several people on Instagram last month that resulted in one of his shows on the Travel Channel being shelved. 

"Simply put, I got into a silly social media argument, and I lashed out in just a really inappropriate, really crude way, and...I'm incredibly sorry about my actions,'' Richman told Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb on TODAY Tuesday. "Even more so, I know that my mom raised me better than that, and I was raised to know human beings don't talk that way to each other, and if you're someone on television, it's irresponsible."

The online ugliness began when Richman, best known as the host of Travel Channel's "Man v. Food Nation," posted a picture of himself on Instagram wearing a large suit that reflected his 70-pound weight loss. The suit had been ordered a year earlier, before Richman, 40, shed the pounds. He tagged the photo with the hashtag #thinspiration. Several users left comments noting that the hashtag #thinspiration is often used by people with eating disorders and has a negative connotation about body image. 

Richman lashed out, calling one woman an ugly four-letter word and telling another to "grab a razor blade and draw a bath. I doubt anyone will miss you." He also cursed out another user. 

"It's inexcusable kind of behavior,'' Richman told Kathie Lee and Hoda. 

His apology comes in advance of the premiere of his new NBC show, "Food Fighters" on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. The show pits five amateur cooks against five professionals with up to $100,000 in prize money on the line. He also apologized on a radio show early Tuesday morning. 

Try these 3 decadent viewer recipes, taste-tested by Adam Richman

"My whole thing is so many people worked so hard on 'Food Fighters,' and these home cooks cooked their hearts out, that I would hate just hate for my lapse of judgement to overshadow some really great work,'' Richman said. 

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