Washington, October 30: Actor-turned-author Denis Leary has apologised for making controversial comments about autistic children in his book, which he says were taken out of context by the media.

The ‘Rescue Me’ star sparked fury by writing in his book ‘Why We Suck: A Feel-Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid’ that some parents were using the brain development disorder as an excuse to explain their children''s "laziness".

He also said that the surge in autism was a result of "inattentive mothers and competitive dads".

The controversy arose when an American newspaper published these excerpts from the book earlier this month.

However, Leary has now apologised for the remarks.

"I apologise for any pain the out-of-context quotes from my book may have caused," Contactmusic quoted him as telling the Boston Herald. (ANI)