Jonah Hill apologizes for using homophobic slur at paparazzo

LOS ANGELES -- Jonah Hill took the opportunity during his appearance on Howard Stern's SiriusXM radio show on Tuesday to express his regret for using a homophobic slur.

Over the weekend, the 30-year-old Oscar nominated actor was being followed in Los Angeles by photographers who were trying to provoke the actor as they followed him and a friend walking around a neighborhood. At one point, Hill snapped and said a homophobic slur at one of the photographers. The video then made the rounds online.

Stern brought up the incident during an interview with the actor, who is currently promoting "22 Jump Street," and Hill said, "This is a heartbreaking situation for me."

Stern replied, "First of all, I can tell you're angry already 'cause you're -- it looks like you're..."

"No, anger is not the right word. I'm upset because from the day I was born, and publicly, I've been a gay-rights activist," Hill said.

"Now, this person, you saw a 40-second video. This person had been following me around -- just to give it some context, not excusing what I said in any way -- this person had been following me around all day, had been saying hurtful things about my family, really hurtful things about me personally, and I played into exactly what he wanted and lost my cool," he added. "And in that moment I said a disgusting word that does not at all reflect how I feel about any group of people."

"I grew up with gay family members. I'm leaving here to go spend the day with one of my closest co-workers and best friend who is gay, who's getting married, who I'm going to stand at his wedding," he continued. "You know? I'm not at all defending my choice of words but I am happy to be the poster boy for thinking about what you say and how those words, even if you don't intend them and how they mean, they are rooted in hate, and that's [expletive]. I shouldn't have said that."

Last year, Hill made it clear he was against Russia's anti-gay laws just prior to the Sochi Olympics by wearing a Human rights Campaign T-shirt which had the phrase "Love Conquers Hate" written on it in Russian.

"Help us show Russia & the world that #LoveConquersHate," Hill wrote in a tweet on Nov. 4 with a photo of himself wearing the T-shirt.

Hill later told Stern, "Now what I said in that moment was disgusting and a hurtful term, but I in no way intended it towards -- as a derogatory term toward anybody in the LGBTQ community."

Robin Quivers, Stern's longtime sidekick, asked Hill if he could have called the police when these incidents occur, however both Stern and Hill told her that what the photographers are doing is not illegal.