The Hollywood star told The Sunday Times his daughter had rebuked him for using what she called the "f-slur for a homosexual" in a joke "months ago".
In a follow-up statement, the Oscar winner stressed that he had never used the insult against anyone off screen.
"This conversation with my daughter was not a personal awakening," he said.
"I do not use slurs of any kind."
He told the newspaper it "was commonly used when I was a kid, with a different application".
