Firebrand feminist Clementine Ford HANDS BACK her publicly-funded grant after sparking fury over her 'coronavirus isn't killing men fast enough' tweet

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Feminist activist Clementine Ford has handed back a $2,800 tax-payer funded grant after her tweet saying 'coronavirus isn't killing men fast enough' sparked an outcry.

The author, 39, was heavily criticised for the 'deliberately divisive and unhelpful tweet', which was sent just weeks after she received the publicly-funded grant.

She has since apologised for the outrageous comment, admitting it was 'a horrendous thing to say'.

After days of backlash, it emerged on Friday night that Ms Ford had not accepted the grant.

Greens councillor Rohan Leppert, who is in charge of the arts portfolio, admitted the tweet had 'hurt' many people. 

'I respect her decision not to proceed with the application and not to accept the funding,' according to the Herald Sun.

Ms Ford (pictured) has apologised for her outrageous comments and is no longer accepting a publically-funded grant

'The City of Melbourne is committed to freedom of speech, but I also acknowledge the hurt felt by many people who have contacted me this week.'

Ms Ford posted the tweet on May 23, in response to an article written about gender disparities in parenting children during the coronavirus crisis.

The story was about a woman forced to quit her lucrative job during the pandemic because her stay-at-home husband couldn't cope with full time parenting 

Sharing her thoughts with her 135,000 Twitter followers, she wrote: 'Honestly, the coronavirus isn’t killing men fast enough.'

Responding to the backlash in a lengthy, online post on Friday, she conceded to being ashamed over her actions.

Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the tweet from Ms Ford (pictured) was 'deliberately divisive and incredibly unhelpful when we are trying to keep our community together during COVID-19'

'It was an horrendous thing to say,' she admitted.

'There’s no question about that. I cannot defend it, and I’m not trying to. 

'Satire and hyperbole can be an effective tool to translate frustration, but this doesn’t fall in that camp precisely because the harm at the centre of the comment is something that’s actually happening and devastating lives all over the world.

'I woke up the next morning, full of shame. I have no desire to compound the hurt and fear being experienced by anyone, let alone those grappling with this virus. 

'I deeply regret writing that tweet.'

But she followed up on the apology by accusing those of being offended by the tweet as being the 'gatekeepers' of sexism.

'Let's be real. The people making a meal of this don’t actually care about words,' she wrote.

Arts chair of the Melbourne City Council Rohan Leppert (pictured) announced on Twitter that Ford was not going to be stripped of the funding - but she is no longer accepting the grant

On Sunday, she issued a long-winded apology about the controversial comment after a grant offered to her by Melbourne City Council was put under review (part of the apology pictured)

'If they did, they wouldn’t be so quick to defend the crass, offensive, sexist and bigoted words of every single person whose ideologies aligns with their own.

'What they care about is gatekeeping, and specifically gatekeeping who gets to say words and who doesn’t.'

She said she was angry with herself for 'derailing' the conversation she was trying to have about women being badly treated in society. 

'One of the reasons I am so furious with myself for expressing myself abominably in that single tweet is that I have derailed the conversation I was trying to have about the ongoing abuse of women and its heightened state in social isolation,' she added.

Ms Ford said the backlash proved 'exactly how fragile men are' but has apologised for the comments

Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sally Capp, previously slammed the tweet.  

'I found these comments offensive and distasteful and I agree with the sentiment of outrage expressed by many members of our community,' she said.

In a long statement posted on social media today, Ford admitted her tweet was “an horrendous thing to say. There’s no question about that. I cannot defend it”.

'I have fortunately amassed enough success as a writer that I can afford to walk away from $2,800,' she said.

The grant was given out to help the arts sectors through the coronavirus pandemic, with Ms Ford reportedly planning to use hers to write a book. 

Mr Leppert, who organises the grants, had previously said Ms Ford was not going to be stripped of the funding.

Some critics suggested her outspoken views on men could be potentially damaging for her own son (pictured) in the future

'The decisions to award grants have been finalised and they will not be undone,' he said on Monday.

'Above and beyond the politics of the day, recouping funds is not even a legally available option. 

'Ms Ford's application met the criteria strongly. It is entirely inappropriate to retrospectively apply special criteria to one applicant.'

Councillor Leppert said the council would not become 'the arbiter of taste and offence'.

'Arts Grants are frequently controversial,' he said.

'It is incumbent on politicians to uphold the integrity of the processes that are set up, knowing that they like others will disagree with some individual outcomes.'  

Diehard feminist Ms Ford (pictured) has now turned down the publicly-funded council grant after causing outrage saying coronavirus 'isn't killing men fast enough' 

Hours after it was made public her grant was under review, Ms Ford took to Twitter with a lengthy apology saying she was 'a big enough person' to admit when she had 'misjudged something'. 

'I still stand 100 per cent behind my fury at men exploiting women's unpaid labour (exacerbated by the global pandemic), but I've reconsidered my flippancy in discussing it,' she wrote.

'Regardless of what people want to think about me, I have no wish to compound harm and grief for anyone, nor be dismissive of the very real impact and fear a crisis like this presents.

'A flippant (and yes, poorly judged) tweet doesn't change that reality and it shouldn't shift the focus away from it.

'If we benefit from privilege, we should also be robust enough to accept critique of the systems that privilege us and work to change them.'

But hundreds of people didn't buy the apology. 

'Yeah, not so fast girl. It wasn't flippant it was thirsty and banal. And it's done some serious damage,' one user tweeted.

'This woman doesn't admit fault easily... clearly she got a tap on the shoulder,' another said.

'It is amazing how hard you jumped off when you knew that 20k grant was in jeopardy. Pathetic,' one woman commented.

Ms Ford (pictured) admitted she was ashamed by the tweet, which provoked outrage on last week

'Is this an attempt at some sort of apology? You can't even get that right!' another said. 

Others came to the writer's defence and thanked her admitting she'd made a blunder.

'Many who need you love your courage. They feel power and comfort from seeing you talk to men the way men talk to us,' one woman wrote. 

'That's an intentionally narrow tightrope to walk, and people who never applaud your daily performances will always be quick to yell at your corpse after a fall.'

'Thank you for your apology to those that it hurt. I just wish more people got angry about DV as much as they got angry at your tweet,' another said.