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FILE - This Jan. 9, 2014 file photo shows U.S actor Jonah Hill at the UK Premiere of "The Wolf Of Wall Street," at a Leicester Square cinema in central London. Hill has apologized for shouting a homophobic slur at a paparazzo in an encounter caught on video. A video posted Tuesday, June 3, by TMZ shows a photographer pestering Hill, who responded with expletives and an anti-gay expression. On “The Howard Stern Show” on Tuesday, the 30-year-old actor acknowledged that he said “a disgusting word.” Hill said the word “does not at all reflect how I feel about any group of people.” He said that he’s been a gay-rights activist “from the day I was born.” Earlier this year, Hill promoted a Human Rights Campaign effort opposing anti-gay laws in Russia ahead of the Winter Olympics. Hill said he had been harassed by the photographer, claiming he said “hurtful things about my family, really hurtful things about me personally.” (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP, File)

Jonah Hill’s apology over gay slur raises question: Why would even an ally let one fly?

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Jonah Hill is winning points for what appears to be a sincere apology for hurling a gay slur at a paparazzo he says was harassing him.

But the insult the actor hurled last week still raises the question: Why would someone like Hill, for years a vocal supporter of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, use such a word? Even in a moment of anger?

He’s not the first, nor likely the last, prominent person to use the word “faggot” in the heat of the moment.

Experts say comments like Hill’s aren’t necessarily used by people who are against gays. They say it often doesn’t seem to matter if they think the person is gay or not.

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