IT TOOK until 3.25pm on his second day in the witness box, but Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt finally lost his cool yesterday.

As Herman Borenstein, SC, asked Bolt why he had appended the term ''gay'' to his description of Aboriginal lawyer/academic Mark McMillan in a 2009 blog post, Bolt, who had remained implacably calm through almost eight hours of cross-examination, exploded.

Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt leaves court this week. Credit:Vince Caligiuri

''For you to first smear me with the Holocaust and now try to portray me as a gay bigot is an unforgivable travesty,'' he fumed.

Bolt denied any suggestion he was homophobic, saying the godfather of his children is gay.