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WWE Host Breaks ‘No Homophobia’ Pact With GLAAD, Took Less Than Two Weeks
3/26/2011 by Cynthia S. Wright
Less than two weeks after partnering with GLAAD, it seems WWE temporarily “forgot” and slipped back into familiar territory. WWE announcer, Michael Cole
Michael Cole
tweeted a homophobic slur (the one that rhymes with ‘maggot’) to his colleague Josh Matthews. The tweet was quickly deleted, followed by an apology by Michael Cole.
“It was obviously not meant the way it was taken. I was not ordered to apologize I said I am sorry because I am. Now can I get back to being a character again please?”
Lately, it seems that the WWE can’t stay away from using homophobic content. John Cena, the heroic, All-American boy has recently come under fire due to his homophobic jokes and raps during his WWE performances.With the homophobic banter increasing with The Rock’s return to the wrestling arena.
It is not surprising that GLAAD soon caught wind of it – after all, it involves a popular media forum – which, of course – is hard for GLAAD to stay away from.
GLAAD will no be assisting the WWE in a anti-bullying platform. WWE released a statement addressing the incident:
“WWE takes this issue very seriously, and has already spoken with our talent about these incidents. We are taking steps and working with GLAAD to ensure that our fans know that WWE is against bullying or discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. We strongly value our fans in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and apologize to them for these incidents.”
Not sure how much this will actually change the way WWE presents itself but as of late, outside of Cole’s slip up, there has been no homophobic content displayed during their shows. How it translates to the fans? Only time will tell. Yet, in a sport such as wrestling, where grown men dress up in costumes, slap on baby oil and attempt to pile drive the other into submission – it is amazing that they aren’t already the poster children for gay awareness.
15 Responses to WWE Host Breaks ‘No Homophobia’ Pact With GLAAD, Took Less Than Two Weeks
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Cynthia S. Wright
March 28, 2011 at 11:18 am
Hi Victor,
Check your email. I sent you something. Glad to see this post resonated with people.
Stronghold
March 28, 2011 at 11:11 am
Our documentary, STRONGHOLD: In the Grip of Wrestling, covers this specifically. Hopefully Cynthia will contact me and find out more. It was five years in the making and is receiving great reviews. Search the web for it. I’m having a hard time getting posts to work on this bulletin board. I can’t even include links. Vic
Victor
March 28, 2011 at 11:04 am
I am a filmmaker and recently released a documentary that tackles homophobia in the sport of wrestling, entitled “STRONGHOLD: In the Grip of Wrestling. I spent five years traveling throughout the country interviewing coaches, wrestlers, and even a psychologist about this kind of behavior. As you can imagine, wrestling being a very much male dominated sport, is a large bastian for this kind of behavior.
Hopefully Cynthia will do a follow-up story to this. You can search the web for the documentary because this comment board does not allow links. The film has been well received at several film festivals.
Victor
March 28, 2011 at 10:55 am
Our documentary, STRONGHOLD: In the Grip of Wrestling, specifically covers homophobia (and homoeroticism) in wrestling–from pro wrestling to amateur wrestling to MMA. Click on my name to link to it, or search the web.
Bridgette P. LaVictoire
March 28, 2011 at 11:04 am
Comments have to be approved, that’s all
Victor
March 28, 2011 at 11:14 am
Sorry for all the extra posts. Most boards put up a statement that says your comment awaits approval, so I didn’t know. Thanks, Vic
Ethan
March 27, 2011 at 6:02 pm
As a gay man, I find it infuriating and insulting when so-called “news” sources will not print the word “faggot” in articles like this. Obviously there is a journalistic responsibility not to be casual with hate speech, nor to direct it AT anyone, but if you’re going to go so far as to provide a rhyme, just write the damn word. Censoring a report in this way merely adds to the taboo and the destructive power of these slurs.
Cynthia S. Wright
March 27, 2011 at 9:22 am
I agree, Frankie. It’s entertainment at best and nothing will change until people hold Vince Mac and his family accountable. I can’t say I hate the idea of wrestling but pushing forward “wrestlers” that exude that All-American, white trash appeal – which is nothing but a walking stereotype – is the issue. Having people view being gay as lesser than, non-masculine IS the issue, not being able to separate an entertainment variety show IS the issue.
If Vinnie Mac was a person of color and tried to get away with the same mess, people would have had his head a long time ago.
Frankie
March 27, 2011 at 8:37 am
Money keeps the machine going… it’s an entertainment business. The real issue is that is was exported from the most homophobic place in an already homophobic country: the deep South of the United States. Removing it’s cultural roots will prove challenging at best, and in the end may be a waste of time…
Amina Abdallah
March 27, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Not to be pedantic, but pro-wrestling is not ‘from the deep south’. MacMahon’s company was based in Manhattan and only relocated to Atlanta because that’s where Ted Turner’s studios were based.
Pro-wrestling has always been as popular outside the SOuth as in it — heck, it’s huge in Mexico, Australia, parts of Europe …
Cynthia S. Wright
March 27, 2011 at 12:53 pm
True, different places watch WWE. I used to watch it growing up in Germany, the ISSUE is how they abuse their power and a lot of the characters they use are ones that resonate with a lot of the working class. I know you replied to the previous poster but it is about how they are fueling stereotypes and not getting in trouble for it and the fact that I doubt Vinnie Mac cares whether there are homophobic slurs or not.
Allan
March 27, 2011 at 4:44 pm
“If Vinnie Mac was a person of color and tried to get away with the same mess, people would have had his head a long time ago”
He’s done worse and nothings happened except his empire has expanded:
Vince McMahon early in the 00s said to Booker T, a BLACK wrestler from TEXAS, “whassup my nigger”, (look it up on YouTube) and I never saw anything posted up about what a disgrace it was because wrestling is a FAKE, SCRIPTED, form of ENTERTAINMENT. People saw it, thought “WHAT DID HE SAY” and then went about their lives because it is, as aforementioned, WWE is SCRIPTED ENTERTAINMENT
Cynthia S. Wright
March 27, 2011 at 5:22 pm
@ Allan, I remember that. Wresting being called scripted entertainment is a crock. Sure, it is supposed to amuse you but a lot of people take their cues not from world figures but what they see on weeknight TV. They emulate these people because they can’t decipher from “real world” and what is scripted for them during these wrestling matches. I think this touches on what is bothersome about media entertainment, if a white person assumes a place of status more than likely they’ll be able to get away with things. Just like how John Mayer could compare his penis to David Duke – sure folks took notice (if they knew who he was) but did he get reamed for it? Not really. Not to keep bringing up race but if Booker T went on a racial slur tirade – he wouldn’t have made it out of that arena. Just because you have this “power” doesn’t mean you can say what you want because we have free speech in this country.
Victor
March 28, 2011 at 11:06 am
I recently released a documentary that tackles homophobia in the sport of wrestling, entitled STRONGHOLD: In the Grip of Wrestling. I spent five years traveling throughout the country interviewing coaches, wrestlers, and even a psychologist about this kind of behavior. As you can imagine, wrestling being a very much male dominated sport, is a large bastian for this kind of behavior. Hopefully Cynthia will do a follow-up to this story and take into account my research and effort.
Jeff
March 27, 2011 at 2:46 am
Why anyone would align themselves w/ the inbred, Nazi, misogynistic, homophobic, illiterate human trash as WWE is well beyond me.