Baldwin pens apologetic letter over gay slur tweets

Alec Baldwin, left, and his wife Hilaria Thomas arrive at Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine before funeral services actor James Gandolfini. Photo / AP

Actor Alec Baldwin has issued a public apology for using gay slurs in an online rant aimed at a reporter.

The 30 Rock star posted a foul-mouthed tirade on his Twitter page over a report published by the Daily Mail that suggested his wife, Hilaria, was using the social networking website during James Gandolfini's funeral.

Baldwin denied his partner had been tweeting from the church and took to Twitter to blast the author of the article, George Stark.

He described Stark as a "toxic little queen" and a "lying little b****", adding, "I am gonna f*** you up ... I want all of my followers and beyond to straighten out this f****** little b****."

The star has now issued an apology for any offence his language might have caused, releasing a letter to gay rights group GLAAD.

The message read: "My ill-advised attack on George Stark of the Daily Mail had absolutely nothing to do with issues of anyone's sexual orientation ... As someone who fights against homophobia, I apologise ... I would not advocate violence against someone for being gay and I hope that my friends at GLAAD and the gay community understand that my attack on Mr Stark in no way was the result of homophobia."

In an interview with Gothamist.com, he added: "The idea of me calling this guy a 'queen' and that being something that people thought is homophobic ... a queen to me has a different meaning. It's somebody who's just above.

"It doesn't have any necessarily sexual connotations. To me a queen ... I know women that act queeny. I know men that are straight that act queeny and I know gay men that act queeny. It doesn't have to be a definite sexual connotation or a homophobic connotation. To me those are people who think the rules don't apply to them."

- WENN