SYDNEY, Oct. 26 (UPI)

U.S. comedian Jerry Lewis acted inappropriately by calling cricket a “fag game” on an Australian television broadcast, an equal rights advocate says.

Corey Irlam, an Australian Coalition for Equality spokesman, said the 82-year-old so-called King of Comedy should not have used the derogatory word for gay individuals during a Network Ten broadcast, Sky News reported Saturday.

“Lewis is a world-renowned comedian but clearly this wasn’t funny,” Irlam said.

Lewis’ comment, which was paired with an effeminate demonstration of cricket, came after he was asked for his opinion on the sport.

“Oh, cricket? It’s a fag game,” Lewis said. “What are you, nuts?”

The on-air comment marks the second derogatory comment offered by Lewis regarding the gay population, Sky News reported.

The British news group said Lewis apologized last September for a similar anti-gay comment he made during his annual Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon.

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