The man at the centre of a row with Alastair Stewart which pushed the broadcaster to quit said an apology would have sufficed.
In a statement on Twitter, Martin Shapland said he takes “no pleasure” in the veteran broadcaster’s decision to step down.
The ITV News host, 67, was involved an exchange with Shapland on Twitter in which he quoted a Shakespeare passage including the phrase “angry ape”.
The quote, which was taken from the play Measure For Measure, was sent during a disagreement on January 13.
Mr Shapland said: “I understand that Mr Stewart has acknowledged the words he used were misjudged and has expressed regret at what happened. I thank him for that.
“No one is perfect. We are all human and we all need to learn from our experiences and mistakes and try to be better people in the wake of them.
“An apology and commitment to be more careful about language was all that I would have asked. It is regrettable that he has decided to stand down and I take no pleasure in that. He has evidently gone through an ITN and ITV process and I respect his choice.
“Civil and political discourse has become far too vicious in the last five years. I would ask that we try to treat each other with a little more respect, kindness and understanding.”
He thanked critic Kate Maltby, saying she “witnessed the whole incident” and concurred “that the exchange was out of character”.
It was suggested by the pair that there was more to the row than the comment which has been publicised.
Mr Shapland said there were “several posts written by Mr Stewart, which have all now been deleted”.
He said: “In so far as Mr Stewart caused hurt and upset, intentionally or otherwise, in an exchange earlier this month, there is a wider context.
“There was not a single post as has been widely reported, but several posts written by Mr Stewart, which have all now been deleted.
The Standard contacted Mr Stewart's representatives who said he will make no further comment at this time.
