I'll be interested in seeing what he said. I'll have to sneak a look sometime here at work (because I can't watch videos on my home computer).
It's not Jake's fault if that's the context in which the question came up. I don't think it's disrespectful. Red carpets and award shows, etc. are a basic part of the profession. And, I think it was almost inevitable that someday the question would come up in that context.
I've always been of the opinion that Jake, as one of Heath's most significant co-stars, probably should have made a more formal eulogy or statement after Heath's passing. I think it's strange that someone like Daniel Day-Lewis did so, and not someone like Jake. By not taking the opportunity to make a statement in his own way, and on his own terms... it, again, made it almost inevitable that the way the question would come up (some day) would be off-the-cuff... or in a moment when he'd be caught off guard by a reporter, etc.