New York, Nov 12 : Controversial comedienne Sandra Bernhard has dismissed earlier reports that she said Sarah Palin would be "gang-raped by my big black brothers" if she enters Manhattan.

"I never said ''''gang-raped'''' and I never used ''''rape,'''' " the New York Daily News quoted Bernhard, as saying.

Bernhard was widely condemned after reportedly making the remark in her opening monologue during a show last month at Washington, D. C.’s Theater J.

The funny woman’s explanation comes following the announcement that she has been dropped as the keynote speaker for mid-October benefit at Rosie’s Place, a women’s shelter in Boston.

The 53-year-old decided to set the record straight only after ‘it caused damage to an innocent charity’.

"As a performer, I’m not in the business of explaining myself to ill-informed critics. However, once this caused collateral damage to an innocent charity which does great work, I needed to correct things for the record," she added.

Bernhard wouldn’t recall the exact words she had spoken, citing her monologue''''s improvisational nature, but said she "addressed the issue [that] if Sarah Palin had, God forbid, been violated, would she be willing to care for the baby?"

Despite being dropped from the charity, Bernhard said that she has no hard feelings towards Rosie’s Place, and plans to make a donation ‘immediately’ to the shelter.

"I understand the predicament they’re in," she said. (ANI)