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The Sydney talkback radio host Alan Jones has said it now regrets berating the chief executive of the Sydney Opera House, Louise Herron, on the billboard to advertise a horse race.
In the extraordinarily aggressive interview on Friday, Jones called for Herron to be sacked.
But on his 2GB show on Tuesday morning he said: "I used some words in these programs about the Everest, and the Opera House, and Louise, which in hindsight I now most regret."
"So to Louise and those people who've been offended, I apologize," he said.
Jones and the New South Wales are facing a backlash in the wake of the interview.
Nearly a quarter of a million people have signed a petition calling on the state government to reverse its decision.
The petition to organize, Mike Woodcock, hopes the first, Gladys Berejiklian, will accept the appeal he started on Friday.
Public outrage over the face-off in the event, dubbed the Everest, mounted on the weekend and in this week with some calling it an "assault" on the World Heritage-listed Australian building.
Woodcock, whose petition on Tuesday morning topped 230,000 signatures, said it would be "awesome" if Berejiklian reversed her decision made in the wake of a phone call from Jones.
"On Friday we saw her accepting," she said, "apparently," he told Nine Network. "It would be great if she accepted the views of 232,000 other people that are on the other side of this."
Berejiklian intervened on Friday after Jones publicly berated Herron, saying she should lose her job.
On Monday the first stood by her decision, saying she was "incredibly comfortable" with it.
Woodcock's Change.org petition, which the website says it's fastest-growing petition in recent memory, will be delivered to the NSW parliament on Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday night, the barrier for the skyscrapers of the Opera House from 8pm, alongside a planned protest on the foreshore.
A protest organized, Rachel Evans, said there was "a lot of anger" about the promotion, which she described as an "assault on the Opera House". Nearly 3,000 people are expected to reach out to the world with their torches and mobile phone lights.
The Everest organize, NSW Racing, claimed it had received death threats in the wake of furore. NSW Police said on Monday they were not aware of any reported threats.
The Opera House Conservation Management Plan states "The Sydney Opera House exterior, particularly the shells … should not be regarded as a giant billboard or commercial / advertising opportunity".
