OTTAWA - Sun Media Corp. is set to apologize to Justin Trudeau later today for a rant against the Liberal leader by on-air personality Ezra Levant.
The news organization will make the apology on Levant's 8 p.m. ET Sun News Network show, saying his rant was in poor taste and should not have aired. It will apologize to Sun News Network viewers, Trudeau and his family.
Levant was in hot water for an on-air tirade over a photo of Trudeau kissing a Toronto-area bride on the cheek as her bridesmaids looked on.
In his monologue, Levant maligned Trudeau for the kiss, suggesting he'd forced himself on the wedding party. He also slurred Trudeau's mother, Margaret, and his late father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau.
The bride and her father-in-law stated publicly that they requested Trudeau to pose for photos, and also asked that he kiss the bride. They said Trudeau got the groom's OK before planting the kiss.
As a result of Levant's comments, Trudeau said he would no longer speak to Sun Media reporters until there was an appropriate response from the chain, Canada's largest newspaper publisher.
A video of the rant — and a column repeating many of the same slurs against Trudeau — was still on Levant's blog as of late Monday afternoon. Levant did not immediately reply to a request for comment.