Jerry Lewis on using the "F" word: "No excuses. I'm sorry."

Well, the Frenchmen's favorite funny man, Jerry Lewis has quickly and, I'd say, pretty directly apologized for his on air gay slur during the this year's Muscular Dystrophy telethon. (You can find a clip of the incident after the break.)

According to Reuters, Lewis had this to say...

"I obviously made a bad choice of words. Everyone who knows me understands that I hold no prejudices in this regard," he said. "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."

I'm interested to see whether this ends the matter. To be fair, Lewis does admirable work with the MDA and, as he points out, it would be a shame for his stupid slur to diminish his effectiveness as a telethon fundraiser. This year, they raised a record $63 million dollars. And to my thinking, the old guy should also be given points for getting out ahead of this and issuing a prompt public apology.

Of course, we should deduct points for his film career — regardless of what the French think.