Jonah Hill offers emotional apology for using a homophobic slur

last updated 8 January 2015

On last night's episode of The Tonight Show, guest Jonah Hill took a break from promoting 22 Jump Street to deliver an uncharacteristically somber apology for using a homophobic slur last weekend.

"Unfortunately, this isn't a joke," said Hill. "This weekend, I was out with some friends, and there was a paparazzi guy. And he was antagonizing me — calling me names. Attacking me personally, and my family personally. I was genuinely hurt by this and made angry by this, and in response, I said the most hurtful word that I could think of at that moment."

"I didn't mean it in a homophobic way. And I think that doesn't matter. How you mean things doesn't matter. Words have weight and meaning. The word that I chose was grotesque, and no one deserves to say or hear words like that. I've been a supporter of the LGBTQ community my entire life, and I completely let the members of that community and everybody else down when I used a word like that this weekend. My heart's broken, and I genuinely am deeply sorry to anyone who's ever been affected by that term in their life. I'm sorry, and I don't expect or deserve your forgiveness."

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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.

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