HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – In the legendary words of B.A. Baracus, “I pity da fool… who wears sneakers on the red carpet!”
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, despite the fact that GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) has contacted 20th Century Fox about his recent “acting is gay” comment, walked the red carpet last night at the world premiere of new movie The A-Team.
Co-stars Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, and Liam Neeson accompanied the “lighthearted excitement” of Jackson as they made their way into Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood Thursday night.
Whatever you do, don’t call it “The GAY-Team” to Rampage.
Jackson has been catching heat for statements he made in an interview with the Los Angeles Times last week that critics have labeled as “homophobic”. One of the controversial statements he made was this:
“It [acting] makes you soft. You got all these people combing your hair and putting a coat over your shoulders when you’re cold. I don’t want a coat over my shoulders! I’m a tough-ass motherfucker.”
Taj Paxton, GLAAD’s Director of Entertainment Media, responded to Jackson’s statements in a blog post on the GLAAD website:
“Equating gay with soft is an antiquated stereotype. In an era where gay servicemen risk their lives daily, Jackson’s implication that being gay means you can’t be tough is particularly harmful. His comments serve to uphold sweeping generalizations about gay men and about the representation of masculinity.”
Remember when UFC President Dana White said an openly gay fighter in the UFC “wouldn’t be a big deal” because “everyone is so respectful?” Considering Jackson’s recent statements and the “slip of the tongue” Michael Bisping made at the UFC 114 press conference, which was even more derogatory than Jackson’s comments, it obviously raises doubts whether or not an openly gay fighter would truly be welcomed in the UFC .
Of course, that is only two fighters out of the approximately 250 fighters currently on the UFC roster. Just as all gay people can not be labeled “soft”, all UFC fighters can not be labeled homophobic. It is a known fact there are some fighters who have absolutely no problem with embracing what you might call their “not so masculine” side.
Great article. I couldn’t agree more. It was a simple statement with no harm meant, obviously.
“The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism, but under the name of liberalism they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day, America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened.”
– Norman Thomas, American socialist (1948)
What is socialist about being against language that offends people?
I agree, the cuss word was not appropriate.