Mixed martial arts champion and The A Team star Quinton "Rampage" Jackson attempts to clear the air after the recent unflattering profile in the Los Angeles Times.
Jackson, who reprises Mr. T's role as B.A. Baracus, reportedly unleashed a "homophobic tirade" on the production set and now explains on his blog that the story painted an erroneous picture.
Now I got my life back together from all that doing positive things, trying to be the best role model I can be. Instead of the media congratulating me from this obstical, it chooses to paint a picture of me as a gay basher. Let me teach you a little something about me cause I know y'all don't really know me. I am a black man from Memphis Tennessee who grew up in the south where I faced discrimination my whole life. I know very well how it feels for someone to judge you for something you have no control over so having gone through that I know how it feels. I took a vow that I didn't even have to say that I would never discriminate against anybody for anything other that how they treat me or others around them. So not only DO I NOT HATE gay people, I actually accept them for who and what they are. They always seem happy and most of them I met are very kind and nice individuals. Yes, and like most straight guys I joke around with the whole gay thing and I see it as comedy, not saying that's right or wrong but I don't do it out of hate. I don't hate fat girls but I make fun of them too.
Jackson says he was embarrassed at being made fun of in front of a reporter by the crew member, whom he described as a gay friend from the movie set.
"The interviewer witnessed my friend giving me shit and calling me gay. I was so embarrassed and didn't want my ego tainted because I'm a big tough fighter. So yes, I got quite defensive and I'm known to be the best shit talker in my business and a fighter in all aspects in life. So I made fun of him back, calling him gay. Only reason why I got a bad report from it was because this guy who was making fun of me and has been my friend on set for about four months (time spent working on the movie) and was gay for real and the reporter being the type of guy he is chose to make THAT his story not knowing that the guy and I were only shit talking like we did everyday."
It's probably not the most artful explanation, but two things stand out to me: Like the recent comments made by Wale's manager, a black male celebrity in an industry not known to be gay friendly apologizes for anti-gay remarks. And Quinton "Rampage" Jackson compares his struggles with discrimination and racism to homophobia. That's gotta be worth something.
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