Actor Jonah Hill is sorry for using a "grotesque" homophobic slur.

He was caught on camera lashing out at a photographer over the weekend in footage published on a website Tuesday. He ignored photographers as he walked through Los Angeles and initially didn't respond when one paparazzi said: "'I like the shorts though, bro. They are pretty sexy."

Shortly afterwards, he could be heard saying: "Suck my d***, you f*****."

Talking on "The Tonight Show" he recalled the incident, and said that "unfortunately this isn't a joke", femalefirst.co.uk.

"This weekend I was out with my friends and there was a paparazzi guy and he was antagonising me, calling me names, attacking me personally, my family personally. I was genuinely hurt by this and made angry by this," he said.

"And in response I wanted to hurt him back and I said the most hurtful word that I could think of at that moment. I didn't mean this in the sense of the word, I didn't mean it in a homophobic way," he added.

He said he chose the word that no one deserves to say or hear.

"I have been a supporter the LBGT (lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender) community my entire life. I completely let members of that community and everybody else down when I used a word like that this weekend.

"My heart is broken and I genuinely am deeply sorry for anyone whose ever been affected by that term in their life," he said.

The 30-year-old hopes others can learn from his outburst.