While he's long been celebrated as a comedy legend, Jerry Lewis has also spewed some serious misogyny and racism. We can add homophobia to that list now, too: During a live Muscular Dystrophy telethon, Lewis pointed to a cameraman and called him an “illiterate fag.”

The comedian has since apologized for the slur, saying he made "a bad choice of words."

"Everyone who knows me understands that I hold no prejudices in this regard. The success of the [telethon] and all the good that will come from it shouldn't be lost because of one unfortunate word. I accept responsibility for what I said. There are no excuses. I am sorry."

GLAAD President Neil Giuliano said Lewis's remark, which came in the 18th hour of the annual broadcast, “feeds a climate of hatred and intolerance that contributes to putting our community in harm's way." He's requested a meeting with Lewis to discuss the incident.

Lewis does admirable work with the MDA—this year's telethon raised a record $63 million dollars. But he's developed a reputation for some ugly remarks in his later years: In 2000, he disparaged the work of Lucille Ball, stating that “a woman doing comedy doesn’t offend me but sets me back a bit—I think of her as a producing machine that brings babies into the world."