'Glee's' Jane Lynch Wasn't Offended by Brett Ratner's Gay Slur

A veteran comedian, Jane Lynch knows what it feels like to see a joke fail spectacularly. She also knows how often they can offend people.

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The Glee star spoke with E! at Saturday's anniversary fete for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, where she came to the defense of director Brett Ratner over his recent gay slur.

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"I feel bad for him," said Lynch. "I wasn't offended. I'm OK."

Ratner stepped down from his Oscar producing job last week, after word got out that he said "rehearsal's for fags" when asked about preparations for the telecast. Lynch acknowledged that as mean-spirited as the word comes off, Ratner was just making an attempt at a joke.

"I think humor is such a personal thing and you put a microphone in somebody's face," she said, "they're going to say something that offends somebody."

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Lynch is among a very small crop of Hollywood types to say anything in Ratner's defense. She joins his friend and Tower Heist collaborator Eddie Murphy, who showed his support by bowing out of the Oscars alongside him, and Howard Stern, who defended him on the radio, calling the backlash an act of hypocrisy.