Alec Baldwin apologises over "anti-gay" Twitter comments

Alec Baldwin apologised on Friday night to a New York City-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights group for a series of tweets that were interpreted by many as homophobic.

Baldwin's messages were directed at a 'Daily Mail' newspaper reporter, George Stark, who accused his pregnant wife, Hilaria Baldwin, of tweeting during the funeral for James Gandolfini.

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He then went on to make a number of threats, some appearing to be gay slurs, blasting Stark, as a "toxic little queen" and a "lying little b**ch", adding, "I am gonna f**k you up... I want all of my followers and beyond to straighten out this f**king little b**ch."

Baldwin said in a letter to Glaad posted on its website on Friday his tweets didn't have anything to do with "issues of anyone's sexual orientation".

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The former '30 Rock' star cited his political work with marriage equality groups and insisted he wouldn't advocate violence against someone for being gay.

The message reads: "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 apologize... 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."

Baldwin disabled his Twitter account. And the 'Daily Mail' have removed Stark's article from their website.

GLAAD spokesman Rich Ferraro says Baldwin's language was improper and his tweets didn't reflect his "history of actively supporting LGBT equality".

The apology wasn't universally accepted. Celebrity website 'TMZ' called it a "get-out-of-homophobia-jail-free" card.