Dana White
Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts organization, will apologize for an anti-gay slur he unleashed in a video while pissed off at a journalist. Ted Rybka of GLAAD’s sports arm spoke to White and just posted this:
I just spoke with UFC President Dana White. White expressed remorse for a video blog posted April 1 in which he uttered misogynistic and anti-gay slurs (see here) and said he “never intended to hurt the gay community.”
He will issue a new video on the UFC’s YouTube page shortly in which he will apologize for the incident.
White called an unnamed journalist a “faggot” after he wrote about the UFC’s credentialing policy.
“In the video [since removed], White rants, “And here’s a quote from a guy who wanted to remain anonymous because of fear of repercussions. Shut the f**k up. Any f**king guy who won’t put his name on it. First of all, whoever gave you that quote is a pu**y and a f**king f**got and a f**king liar and everything else.”
I know a lot of gay men who are huge UFC fans, so White is smart to apologize; the sport really appeals to younger fans. He has a real tough-guy image but is savvy enough to realize who can’t anger part of your fan base. Last year, we reported on a New York Times piece on Shad Smith, a mixed martial artist who is gay.
on Apr 2nd, 2009 at 8:06 PM
I’d recommend reading the original article on Sherdog.com. The journalist isn’t unnamed, and she isn’t a man. Her name is Loretta Hunt, and she’s an experienced MMA reporter. He called her a ‘dumb bitch.’
The weak homophobic crap he spewed was directed at one of her sources, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation by White (probably a good move, all things considered).
on Apr 2nd, 2009 at 9:07 PM
Just makes me think this is not much different than pro wrestling.
on Apr 3rd, 2009 at 11:46 AM
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