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| Photo Credit: ImpactWrestling.com |
Bully Ray at the end of last Thursday's Impact taping lashed out at a fan with a homophobic tirade that drove his "Bully" nickname home a little too hard. You can read the transcript of the rant and watch the video through the link. Bully has since apologized for the rant on Twitter:
Made an inappropriate comment to a fan in Chicago.If anyone was offended by this...I do apologize.No harm was meant.Dixie Carter followed up with harsh words, also predictably on Twitter:
— Bully Ray (@REALBully5150) March 18, 2013
Heard @realbully5150 made inappropriate comments to a fan in Chicago. This will not be tolerated. Sincere apologies on behalf of TNA.
— Dixie Carter (@TNADixie) March 18, 2013
So, here are my thoughts on it. First, whether that apology's weak or not, it's an apology, I guess. I don't know, I've heard enough unsavory things about Bully Ray in real life, but I also don't pretend to know the man. So I won't pontificate on whether I think his apology is sincere or not. The fact that he did is good enough for me.
Secondly, Bully needs to face some kind of repercussion about this. Whether it's in-house or plays out in the narrative is up to TNA management. But Carter can't just say "this won't be tolerated" on Twitter and be the end of it. She has to put her foot down, especially given all the work TNA has done with anti-bullying campaigns.
Thirdly, I understand Bully is a heel. Heels do bad things and aren't nice, but you can be a bad guy in character without being an awful human being in real life to real, actual paying customers. I've said it once, and I'll say it again. Political correctness is a term bandied about by the bitter establishment that's mostly populated by the demographic majority that's code for "I'm so, so angry that I can't make fun of minorities with impunity anymore." Wrestlers, hell, PEOPLE in general need to get the homophobic language out of their lexicons. It's not acceptable.
Finally, Carter's tone on Twitter was absolutely warranted. She was right to come down hard on this. However, as an aside, I kinda wish she was as dedicated to being a decent employer as she seems to be about stopping hate. I know, it seems like it's neither here nor there, but at the same time, it would be nice if she seemed as sympathetic to injured wrestlers having to go food stamps under her contractual gaze as well as rightly sympathizing with fans who were marginalized by sexual orientation.