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".

New York, Oct 27 : American actor Denis Leary has earned himself the ire of gays for his slurs, and is currently defending his right to call homosexual men “fags”.

Leary, who had earlier come under attack for making fun of autism, blames his parents and the Catholic Church for his slurs.

In an interview with next month''s issue of gay magazine The Advocate, Leary was made to defend himself after he was grilled about his upcoming book, ‘Why We Suck’, and a chapter titled ‘Matt Dillon Is a Giant Fag.’

“What gives you the right to use the ‘F-word?’,” the New York Post quoted interviewer Brandon Voss as demanding.