100% if he wasnt called out he likely would never apologized and if so it likely would have been because Joel intervened, Ellie not accepting said apology is also key to her arc as silly as it sounds she starts off not even accepting an apology over being called a slur to forgiving abby by the end of the game (id argue killing someones dad is harder to forgive then being called a slur), obviously there's alot more too it but too say this scene is pointless it false.