Last week saw Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts raise eyebrows when he released a video defending right-wing podcast host Tucker Carlson.

However, leaked footage from a Heritage Foundation meeting showed Roberts apologizing for his choice of words regarding Carlson's critics. 

"I made a mistake, and I let you down"

That footage was obtained by The Washington Free Beacon, which released it in a social media post on Wednesday morning.

"I made a mistake, and I let you down, and I let down this institution. Period. Full stop," Roberts could be heard telling those in attendance.

EXCLUSIVE:

“I made a mistake and I let you down and I let down this institution. Period. Full stop.” That’s how Heritage president Kevin Roberts began an address to staffers on Wednesday, a week after he posted a video decrying those demanding the organization denounce Tucker… pic.twitter.com/5NV3sqyRbg

— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) November 6, 2025

The Free Beacon noted that while Roberts pledged in his original video to never "cancel our friends," he later said this position comes with a "limiting principle."

"You can say you’re not going to participate in canceling someone … while also being clear you’re not endorsing everything they’ve said, you’re not endorsing softball interviews, you’re not endorsing putting people on shows, and I should’ve made that clear," he explained.

Heritage Foundation president apologizes to "Jewish colleagues and friends"

The Heritage Foundation president's original video came after Carlson was criticized for conducting an interview with fellow podcast host Nick Fuentes.

Fuentes has been condemned for making racist and antisemitic comments, such as voicing support for German dictator Adolf Hitler.

Roberts expressed regret for saying that those attacking Carlson were part of a "venomous coalition," something he called a "terrible choice of words, especially for our Jewish colleagues and friends."

Although Roberts claimed to not "know much about this Fuentes guy," he added that this fact was "an explanation, not an excuse."

Roberts says script was written by his former chief of staff

What's more, Roberts explained that the video script was written and presented to him by his former chief of staff, Ryan Neuhaus, who has since stepped down.

"Our former chief of staff had the pen," Roberts asserted. "When the script was presented to me … I understood from our former colleague that it was approved, it was signed off on by the handful of colleagues who are part of that. Still my fault, I should have had the wisdom to say, 'Time out, let’s double check this.'"

During the question and answer session that followed, Heritage Foundation scholar Robert Rector pushed back on the suggestion that the organization should never cancel figures on ideological grounds.

"You say, 'Oh, we don’t cancel.' We do cancel. Did we cancel David Duke? Yes. Did we cancel the John Birch Society?" Rector remarked before alleging that Carlson's show has come to resemble "a lunatic asylum."