Jennifer Aniston under fire for on-air ‘retard’ jibe

Hollywood superstar Jennifer Aniston is at the centre of another controversy after referring to herself as a retard on a talk show.

The 41-year-old actor, was discussing her ’Harper’s Bazaar’ photo shoot in which she posed as Barbra Streisand when she let the offensive term slip, reported Us magazine.

Replying to a question from co-host Regis Philbin on the show ’Kelly and Regis’, Aniston said, "Yes, I play dress up! I do it for a living, like a retard."

While the studio audience laughed at the joke, it has not gone down well with many. Peter Berns, CEO of The Arc, a non-profit advocate for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, said that it was "extraordinarily offensive and inappropriate".

Aniston has joined a list of celebrities, from conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh to shock-jock Howard Stern, who have taken heat for using the derogatory term.

Since promoting her romantic comedy about artificial insemination, ’The Switch’, Aniston has also tangled with Bill O’Reilly of Fox’s The O’Reilly Factor.

The conservative commentator took exception to Aniston’s comment that women don’t necessarily need a man in their lives to start a family, balsting the remarks as "destructive to our society."(PTI)