About eighteen hours into his famed telethon, Jerry Lewis made a joke with the cameraman, the punchline of which involved a gay slur about a hypothetical member of the crew member’s family. It seemed as if Jerry knew he’d f-d up as soon as he said it and has since made a public apology in reference to dropping the f-bomb on camera.

“That something like this would distract from the true purpose of the Telethon pains me deeply. The success of the show and all the good that will come of it shouldn’t be lost because of one unfortunate word. I accept responsibility for what I said. There are no excuses. I am sorry.”

GLAAD seemed happy with the 81-year-old comedian’s apology, responding publicly by applauding his fund-raising efforts, but still hopes to meet with Lewis in the hopes of raising awareness about this issue. Now, I know this might not seem right, but I do think that after a certain age, you should get to be able to play the “I’m old, I don’t know what I’m saying card,” pretty much any time you want to. My understanding of the human aging process is such that I’m pretty sure that after the age of seventy-five, you magically become racist. You can’t help it. It’s around that age, that I think I’m also going to start shoplifting for no reason.