Jay Leno has apologized for comments he made during an interview with Ryan Phillippe on the Tonight Show, admitting that they were “dumb.”

Leno was riffing on the Stop Loss star's first acting role as a gay character on a soap opera, when he asked, "Can you give me, like – say that camera is your gay lover...Can you give me your 'gayest look?'"

Refusing to play along with the ‘joke’, Phillippe replied: "Wow. That is so something I don't want to do."

Gay rights group GLAAD immediately condemned the remarks as insulting and insensitive.

GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano said: "We are proud of Ryan for refusing to participate in Leno's thoughtless attempt at humor.

"Under the guise of comedy, the talk-show host is demonstrating a lack of respect for the gay community and insensitivity to both his co-workers and the audience, to whom he owes an apology."

In response to the fall-out, a repentant Leno told People in a statement:

"In talking about Ryan's first role, I realize that what I said came out wrong.

"I certainly didn't mean any malice. I agree it was a dumb thing to say, and I apologize."