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Another Sports Pro, Another Anti-Gay Slurby Kilian MelloyTuesday Nov 10, 2009 World Wrestling Entertainment star Chris Jericho took to the stage at a horror film festival where his own movie was screening and in the course of a Q&A session called a fellow presenter by an anti-Muslim slur several times as well as hurling an anti-gay expletive.
On stage at the Sacramento Horror Film Festival, Jericho--who appears in the movie Albino Farm--called a fellow presenter "Hadji" during a bantering appearance. Upon that presenter inspecting the glass he held, Jericho hoisted it, saying, "It’s apple juice, fag."
Jericho also remarked that, "...albinos are gay!"
The expletive "Hadji" derives from the Muslim pilgrimage, which is called the "hajj." In the 1960s animated series Johnny Quest, an Indian youth depicted as wearing a tunic and turban was named Hadji. The name has since been adopted as an anti-Muslim slur.
Jericho’s use of the anti-gay pejorative "fag" followed an incident in which Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson texted the word and later verbally repeated it. Johnson was suspended and then fired in the wake of the incident.
The GLBT athletics site Outsports reported on Jericho’s comments in a Nov. 8 article, noting that as he made his remarks Jericho was referring to the media attention they would garner and expressing the hope that he would make headlines at TMZ.
A video featuring snippets of the appearance was subsequently posted at TMZ.com on Nov. 5.
A follow-up video was also posted at TMX on Nov. 7 in which the presenter Jericho had addressed with the anti-gay and anti-Muslim words threw down the challenge to Jericho to "wrassle" him--thumb-wrestle, that is. The presenter, identified as "Mr. Lobo," appeared at a podium wearing a neck brace and the same green and black tie that he wore at the horror film festival, and is greeted by a chorus of "Hadji! Hadji!" from what is evidently meant to represent an audience of members of the press.
Outsports posted an apology that Jericho made following the incident. "After seeing the video I realize some inappropriate comments were made and I apologize if I offended anybody," Jericho said. "Just know that everyone on stage was having a blast and we all shared a drink and a laugh after! The good news is I got my wish of being posted on TMZ."
The Outsports article critiqued the apology by "translating" it. "I’m so happy I made those anti-muslim, homophobic comments," the "translation" of Jericho’s apology read. "And everyone else liked it too, except those pesky fags and towelheads. So screw ’em! I got my name out there, so it’s all good!"
Mr. Lobo also dismissed Jericho’s apology, though TMZ reported that the insults he suffered did not actually apply to him, as Mr. Lobo is of Portuguese, not Middle Eastern, extraction.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) rejected Jericho’s apology. A Nov. 5 posting at World of Pain.net noted that GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios had stated, "Just three months ago Chris Jericho’s boss and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon acknowledged to GLAAD that words matter." Barrios continued, "There is no time, context or occasion in which it is acceptable to utter racist and anti-gay slurs. Jericho’s hollow apology ’if [he] offended anyone’ is a template used by many and is insincere and worn."
Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.
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