The British journalist and interviewer Mehdi Hasan today admitted that he was "definitely guilty" of saying "ignorant shit" about gays and homosexuality when he was younger, and he was sorry for that.

He also said Muslims should be the last people to be okay with "hate being spread against any minority" given the current climate.

The prominent British journalist currently lives in Washington D.C. and hosts the interview show 'Upfront' on Al Jazeera English. He also writes a column for The Intercept website.

He made the comments following a controversy in the US about allegedly homophobic comments by the presenter Joy Ann Reid ten years ago.

1) As someone who’s definitely guilty of saying some ‘ignorant shit’ about gay people & homosexuality when I was a younger man, over a decade ago - around same time Joy Ann was blogging - I second this message. I’m truly sorry about some stuff I said/believed & yes it ‘sucked’ https://t.co/sGJT7c7PXc

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) April 25, 2018

2) There are very few of us who aren't embarrassed by things our younger selves said or did. The point is to be honest about it. Own up to it. Own it. Apologize for it. And be genuinely remorseful. Some of the stuff I said/thought in the past still makes me cringe/feed bad

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) April 25, 2018

3) Those of us raised in conservative religious communities have to find a way to be true to our beliefs/principles/backgrounds without demonizing others or spreading hate and bigotry. Especially in the current scary climate.

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) April 25, 2018

4) I'm lucky that, partly thanks to my career, thanks to my travels, thanks to the people I've met and relationships I've made, that I can think again about different ideologies, belief systems &, above all else, different groups of people, especially the vulnerable/marginalized.

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) April 25, 2018

5) Muslims are the last people, in current climate, who should be ok with hate being spread against any minority. But fact is that I stand against homophobia today, as I sadly didn't in the past, not for self-serving reasons but because it's wrong, offensive & hurtful.

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) April 25, 2018

6) "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," said Jesus. Updated for the social media era: let him who never said or did anything embarrassing or offensive as a younger person cast the first attack on Twitter.

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) April 25, 2018

He also said he was embarrassed about writing a letter to the Daily Mail years ago pitching himself as a writer.