Boxer James Hawley says sacking after anti-gay rant ‘unfair’: ‘I have a cousin who is gay’
The 21-year-old British middleweight boxer described gay men and trans people as "dirty c**ts".
By Will Stroude
Boxer James Hawley, who was dropped by his management company this week over a vile TikTok video in which he declared gay men and transgender people were “dirty c**ts”, says his sacking is “unfair”.
The abhorrent footage saw the 21-year-old British middleweight boxer reply to the question ‘Do you support LGBT [people] by saying: “What on earth makes you want to change your gender or get f****d in the a***”.
“What is up with you dirty c**ts. I feel sorry for your families.”
After being swiftly axed by leading sports management company MTK Global, Hawley posted a decidedly unapologetic ‘apology’ video on Instagram saying he posted the video “out of anger” after receiving “inappropriate videos and messages” from some gay men.
Yesterday professional boxer #JamesHawley responded to a question “do you support the LGBT community” instead of either ignoring the question or just saying yes he went on a viral tirade. This is his “apology” video after being let go from his management pic.twitter.com/0wkb9LXskc
— Jolene Dover (@jolenedover) July 22, 2020
“Last night I’d hit a brick wall, and I’d had enough of all the messages and disgusting, disturbing images that I was being sent by a few members of the gay community. And I lashed out and said a few things I didn’t mean”, he said.
“I have friends who are gay, I also have a cousin who is gay, so I never meant anything by it and I’m sorry for who I offended.”
“At the same time, how would you like it if members of the gay public on a day to day basis were sending you inappropriate videos and messages, basically abusing you.
(Offensive video) Today’s Scum is no other than “pro boxer” and really hard man James Hawley. Homophobic Filth. What a hard man. Report the Low life. What an absolute piece of dirt. pic.twitter.com/W7hdWwbDE0
— Baga Chipz (@ChipShopBird) July 22, 2020
“If this happened to a girl, it would be a completely different situation [and there would be] massive action taken towards the people who were sending her abuse and inappropriate things.
“Also, on the the other hand I feel it’s a very unfair dismissal from MTK Global and would like to be given the opportunity to share my side of the story to why I made this video, and show them the evidence I have that shows it was an attack out of anger, and not what I believe.”
While any unsolicited explicit image sent by a stranger is clearly unacceptable behaviour, it’s certainly no excuse to brand an entire group of people “dirty c**ts” – and of course, Hawley’s ‘apology’ offers no explanation as to his hate-filled comments about transgender people.