Bette Midler apologises for joking Caitlyn Jenner could ‘go back to being Bruce’ after TV show axe

Bette Midler has apologised for joking that Caitlyn Jenner could “go back to being Bruce” now her TV show has been axed.

Reality star Caitlyn Jenner got her own show ‘I Am Cait’ in 2015 shortly after she came out publicly as trans.

But despite an initial burst of interest in Jenner, E! cancelled her show after just two seasons earlier this month due to plummeting ratings,

Gay icon Bette Midler, a long-time LGBT ally, had joked about the cancellation on Twitter.

In the since-deleted message, she wrote: “Now that @IAmCait has been cancelled, will she go back to being Bruce? Will Kris take him back? Do I smell a re-wedding?!”

But after criticism, she deleted her message and sent an apology to the Human Rights Campaign.

She wrote: “DEAR FRIENDS @HRC, WHOM I HAVE ALWAYS SUPPORTED. SORRY LAST TWEET OFFENDED.

“AN IDLE MUSING. I SEEM TO HAVE MISREAD THE TEMPER OF THE TIMES.”

The star has previously taken issue with Jenner’s staunch Republican views. The Republican Party is responsible for the wave of anti-trans and anti-LGBT bills sweeping across US states, and

The Republican Party is responsible for the wave of anti-trans and anti-LGBT bills sweeping across US states, and recently adopted a national platform supporting ‘gay cure’ therapy’.

Bette Midler had tweeted: “People, #CaitlynJenner says she is STILL voting GOP in 2016. Regardless of gender identity, I guess she identifies most as ‘uninformed’.”

Jenner recently vowed not to “give up” on the Republicans.

She told a fringe event at the GOP Convention: “I want to help the Republican Party in so many ways.

“I think our best move to get back to a constitutional government is in the Republican party.

“I have to admit I’ve been very disappointed… but I won’t give up hope on it.

“I get it – the Democratic Party does a better job when it comes to the LGBT community and trans community, and Obama actually has been very good from that standpoint.

“But I think the Republican Party needs to understand, they need to know people who are trans.

“There are trans people out in this audience right now, but you have no idea that they are trans. That’s why I’m here.”