In a four-part series of tweets on Tuesday features writer Jacob Bernstein wrote that he wanted to take "ownership" of his mistake. 

Not everybody on Twitter was impressed with his apology with some stating that it was "insincere."

The apology follows model Emily Ratajkowski, who has long been outspoken about women's issues and sexuality (remember when she posed topless with Kim Kardashian on Instagram and captioned the pic, "We are more than just our bodies, but that doesn't mean we have to be shamed for them or our sexuality") going into bat for Melania Trump. Yes, politics has entered spaces we had never really thought imaginable.

Ratajkowski sat next to Jacob Bernstein at a fashion week party in New York. Conversation must have led to topics like 'do you think Donald Trump's presidency is going to spell the end of civilisation' etc, as polite chit chat with your seat neighbour tends to go these days, then Bernstein called Melania a "hooker."

After which Emily Ratajkowski fired off several tweets in defence of the First Lady and standing up against slut shaming. 

The New York Times released a statement on the comments.

"At a party last night, a Times reporter who does not cover Washington or politics, referred to an unfounded rumour regarding Melania Trump," the newspaper said in a statement. "The comment was not intended to be public, but it was nonetheless completely inappropriate and should not have occurred. Editors have talked to the reporter in question about the lapse."

The rumour in question is that Melania Trump was once a high-class escort (an allegation that has landed the Daily Mail in court because apparently it cost Mrs Trump some very important business dealings).

Firstly, this is a lesson in not saying out loud every awful opinion you've ever had, as Emily Ratajkowski might be listening. But mostly, it's a lesson on not casually demeaning women, and also, not using sex work as an insult. "Hooker" and "prostitute" are outdated terms that are offensive to sex workers.

As has been discussed, Melania Trump probably doesn't need or deserve our sympathy (no matter how many grimaces she pulls when in proximity to her husband, or times that she is left holding a Tiffany box that nobody knows what to do with). But Ratajkowski's point is about all women who are stereotyped, sexualised or summed up by their history (whether true, made-up or projected).

As Ratajkowski said to Glamour magazine in an interview last year on sexuality and 'attention seeking,' "It's not our responsibility to change the way we are seen – it's society's responsibility to change the way it sees us."

To cap it all off, the First Lady herself has seemingly responded to the comments, applauding Ratajkowski's actions with this tweet: