HBO Apologizes Over Big Little Lies Rape Comment

HBO was left with a serious case of foot in mouth this week after an executive made an extremely cringe-worthy comment about the second season of Big Little Lies, saying that the cast's salaries had "raped" their budget. For a show that has created such a conversation about domestic abuse and assault, this is a case of extremely poor word choice.

Francesca Orsi, HBO's senior VP of drama, made the comment while speaking at the INTV conference in Jerusalem. Speaking about the salary demands of Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, who were able to negotiate big deals for the show's second season since their original contracts were made when the show was meant to be a limited series, said, "From a budget standpoint going into season two of Big Little Lies without any options in place we've been... um... short of raped." Yikes.

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In a statement obtained by Entertainment Weekly, Orsi said that she was "embarrassed by my poor choice of words. We are extremely proud of Big Little Lies and excited for the second season."

The entire cast of Big Little Lies will return for the second season, joined by Meryl Streep.