CNN has suspended anchor Roland Martin for tweeting homophobic remarks during the Super Bowl, the NY Daily News is reporting. He tweeted that male fans of David Bechkham’s H&M underwear commercial were not “real bruhs.” He added “IF a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about (David) Bechkham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him! #superbowl”
Martin also ridiculed one of the New England Patriots players for arriving at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis wearing a pink jump suit. “He needs a visit from #teamwhipdata-,” he added.
At first, Martin tried to justify his tweets by saying he was just making fun of soccer. However, he received criticism from his Twitter followers, as well as GLAAD. The organization called for CNN to fire the anchor immediately. “Based on this history, this doesn’t seem like a playful jab at what (Martin) considers an inferior sport. It seems like a jab at what (Martin) considers an inferior community of people,” GLAAD added.
Martin has issued an apology, saying “It was mean to be a deliberately over-the-top and sarcastic crack about soccer; I do not advocate violence of any king against anyone gay, or not. As anyone who follows me on Twitter knows, anytime soccer comes up during football season it’s another chance for me to take a playful shot at soccer, nothing more.”
CNN also released a statement, saying his “tweets were regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent and the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated.”
Written by: Karen Benardell
