Twitter is proving to be a major headache for homophobic pro athletes. Just last month, soccer player Lee Steele was bounced from the Oxford City FC for dissing out player Gareth Thomas on the social media network. Now Justin Fontaine (right), a rookie hockey player with the Houston Aeros, has been suspended for posting a homophobic tweet during the Grammys.
“@J_Fontaine37: @DaveJMcIntyre I disagree, the Foo Faggots were awful. #TerribleShow #BadTaste #6205″agree foo foo!”
Fontaine, a top scorer for the Aeros, says he was just responding to his roommate’s tweet about the band. He deleted the offending post Sunday night—but not before Aeros’ captain John DiSalvatore retweeted it.
In a new tweet, Fontaine issued a mea culpa: “My apologies to everyone, it was wrong. Twitter rookie and it came out totally wrong. It was a roommate battle, nothing more. #sorry.”
The Aeros are the AHL farm team for the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. Management for the Wild issued a statement saying it “apologizes for the offensive slur that was posted by Justin Fontaine on Twitter last night… [He] has been suspended from playing in the next two games for the Houston Aeros.”
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Photo via AHL
William
I love social media. It really just lets the world know who certain people are.
MKe
If you get to make millions of dollars skating around into other guys for a living, maybe you could have a certain amount of respect for the general public. I can ice skate too , the millions never came.
Oh, ok.
A whole two games?
JayKay
Funny, I don’t see the part where he attacked or insulted gay people in any way…Did Dave Grohl recently come out of the closet, or is everyone just over-reacting?
Oh, ok.
@JayKay: You’re defending the usage of “faggots” now? Is there a reason?
prettygirls
@JayKay ToT..of course you don’t, maybe if you lift your hood.
christopher di spirito
Justin Fontaine apologized and said his tweet was unacceptable. What do people want, the death penalty for him? Jeez.
The fanboys let Madge call gays “queens who are always on the rag” and buy a million more of her shitty records. She’s affiliated with the viciously homophobic Kabbalah cult and no one says a thing.
Talk about a double standard.
Steve
The thing that surprises me is that the National Hockey League, seems to have done an about-face. A few years ago, they would suspend or fire people for being nice to gays, if those people were not beat to a bloody pulp first.
Progress happens in unexpected places.
ek
Man Queerty is slow on this article
SEXXYJAMAICAN
@Oh, ok.: I’m pretty sure he’s a wreck, I mean you can tell how bad he feels just by reading that totally sympathtic apology he issued. Poor fella.
michael
He apologized. I think enough is enough sometimes.
Oh, ok.
@christopher di spirito: The double standard is how some of you lose your shit when a black man says something like this, but when a white guy does it you’re all on the ready to defend him.
Suddenly homophobia is no big deal with white people do it. Yet you then turn around and call black gays all kinds of names when we say “It’s no big deal.” if someone black makes a comment that can be construed as even slightly homophobic.
Personally some guy saying anything homophobic doesn’t bother me regardless of their skin color, but I do find it utterly hilarious to see THIS double standard when just a few days ago on another article so many of you wanted to hang the last guy who said something that wasn’t nearly as bad.
Hephaestion
His apology sounds fairly sincere, but I’d sure as hell like to know HOW anyone ever accidentally uses that word. In 58 years of living in the South I’ve managed to never ONCE accidentally use the “N” word. I don’t feel good about accepting his apology until he explains exactly HOW and WHY he said the heinous “f” word. Without that explanation he could just be bullshitting us with a phony apology.
William
“Um, hold on. There is a huge difference between a jock making a knee jerk reaction using a term that society, namely the GOP and religion, has made Damn sure to tell everyone its OK to say versus someone making a vile comment that is specifically aimed at degrading a specific gay person.”
I see, so it’s not okay to call out one faggot in particular but it is okay to call out all faggots.Got it.
I agree completely with “Oh, Ok” if this guy was black there would be 58 comments about how the black community, all 12 Percent of them, are single handedly destroying the march to equality.
perdeep
He just got a slap on the wrist because what he said was worth a slap on the wrist. His league told him it was conduct unbecoming of a public sports professional, and he’ll learn in the future not to do that again. Done and done. No need to escalate, but no need to defend his actions, either. It WAS wrong and unbecoming. I agree that if it had been a person of colour doing it there would be more comments calling for his blood, because Queerty has a vocal contingent that believes homophobic language is ten times more homophobic when said by a Black (or even otherwise “ethnic”, but especially Black) person.
Kenny
Why are White people so homophobic?
Aiden
I see the racists are oddly silent on this post.
michael
You guys could not be any more pathetic trying to crucify this guy and then calling some of us racist when we don’t go along with it.
Tell you what, any of you who are playing the race card would you please show me where we not only crucified anyone for a time when the comment wasn’t directed specifically at an individual and or the LGBT community much less someone who took it in their own to apologize within minutes on their own accord.
Until you can figure out the difference you need to step back, STFU and let the grown ups deal with this. This has nothing to do with race and everything to do with a man who was making a JOKE and quickly apologized ON HIS OWN when he realized what he did.
In other words, get real.
michael
Btw if you can’t figure out the difference between someone dissing a rock band to their roommate by calling the Foo Fighters “Foo Faggots” thus making a very poor choice of words, quickly realizing how dumb they were and then sincerely apologizing for it versus saying you would stab your gay kid and then apologizng for it only when the world gets pissed at you and you are left with no choice then I highly suggest you take your head out of your ass. The same goes for an athlete who calls another person a faggot and does so with vile intent. This guy was making a joke and took it own his own within minutes to say he was wrong.
It is unreal some of you can’t figure out the difference and resort to calling those if us who can a racist.
michael
Let me put it in the simpliest terms so some if you might be able to comprehend how obnoxious you’re being:
Show me just one time where any of us have tired to crucify a man who dropped the word ‘faggot’ in any fashion but apologized within minutes of doing so.
The difference is when you take it on your own to apologize versus being forced to only after the world reacts.
The classic thing is it was in a context of a joke. There’s a slight difference of humor in calling the Foo Fighters “foo faggots” and saying you would stab your gay kid.
Joe stratford
F u Michael. What? White people are the adults who should deal with this and everyone else is just a child for nit gving this homophobic guy a break?
That black dude from CNN did not use the F word or direct it to a specific person but he was crucified in Queerty. This dude used Fag as a derogatory word. His usage of the word implied that Fag = less than adequate, unlikable, unworthy of admiration.
So again. F U and people like you who give people a pass just because they are white!!!
Joe stratford
Fact:
He did not apologize “within minutes”. You made that one up.
You assumed that it was just a Bad Choice of words. I think that assumption is unjustified because he used it pejoratively. So why did you make such an assumption? Let me tell you why – you are racist. You presume that a white guy who says faggot is innately good, that whites are the “adults”, and nonwhites who won’t give a white Fag-swearing guy a pass are using the race card. Racist my boy, you are.
Oh, ok.
They’re all either ridiculously silent on this or ready to give him a pass. So pathetic.
Triple S
Maybe we can just, I don’t know; Get the fuck over this?
Perhaps why black get more crap for being homophobic is because they are more homophobic on average?
I don’t know, but people are getting WAAAY to spastic over this. Just calm down
Oh, ok.
@Triple S: Or you’re just racist.
Stephen
It’s amazing anyone cares what some farm team hockey player says at all. Anytime anyone says “fag” it’s news? Not even says–tweets lol. And he was talking about the Foo Fighters? Lol. They are kinda the fags of rock.
JAW
I thought that we had taken back F—-T… just like we have taken back the Q word… so nobody can offend us if they use it… just like we do
Or have we created another Double standard… “Do as we say, Not as we do”
Tackle
@christopher di spirito: Your inconsistency and hypocrisy is amazing.
You praised and supported CNN’s decision to suspend Roland Martin for making some
so-called homophobic tweets, and then turn around and is so quick to forgive and move on for this guy for his blatant use of the F-word. And I’m sure this was not his ONLY time using this word.
@Triple S: If YOU and others believe that Blacks are more homophobic, can you prove this??
Can you show proof that Blacks kill or bash GLBT people more than any other group?
Can you show that Black kids in school are the majority of bullying perpetrators causing so many kids to commit suicide?
Can you show where a Black church has picketed the funereal of a gay person, with picket signs saying, fags will burn in hell?
Do you have any proof that Blacks are more likely to not hire someone,have someone fired or deny someone a promotion based on their sexuality???
Any proof that a Black police officer is more likely to arrest or harass a GLBT person for making out or having sex in a puplic place?
Are more likely to deny renting to a GLBT person?
And are more likely to spew hatred over the internet more than Whites?
Any proof that Black parents are any more likely to throw their children out or disowned them, based on their sexuality????
I’ll wait for your proof…
JKB
Ok people, I’ll settle this. If he let’s me fuck him, we can call it even.
chad
It’s real simple. and yet people don’t get it. The “F” word is the same as the “N” word or the “C” word. Period. Enough said. Same consequences, same shame, same, inappropriateness.
Granster
@JKB: Finally a voice of reason!!!!
JAW
I am impressed with how quickly they all responded to it. The player said that he was sorry that he did bad… not “if I did” like most apologizes do. He did it ASAP… still during the show… The Team… responded so fast that it made the Monday morning Newspaper. The Team did not mince words either. They did not wait to see… They fixed the problem.
I think that we should congratulate him, and the team for their response. If more people/teams/companies etc did the same… there would be a LOT less issues.
I also agree… he is Very cute… but guys, Don’t you all freak the guy out and stalk him, heis all mine
😉
J Stratford
@JW so what you are giving him a break because he is cute? Shame on you!! If Roland Martin was cute, would you have given him a pass too? Oh wait no.. you wouldn’t becasue you think, blacks on average are more homophobic.
No matter the fact that more white people kill gays, protest gay funerals, against gays in the military, and the least gay-friendly states are overwhelmingly white.
christopher di spirito
@Tackle: You’re an idiot if you can’t see the difference between Roland Martin tweeting any guy who likes the David Beckham ad should have the shit beat out of him and before that, Roland supporting Tracy Morgan for stating he would knife to death his son if the son said he is gay, and this nitwit hockey player referring to the Foo Fighters as the “Foo Faggots.” I assume people who make comments on Queerty have a few brain cells of intelligence but in your case, I stand corrected.
JAW
@J Stratford:
J… what the hell are you talking about?
I never brought color into this at all. I never said anything about blacks being more homophobic
What I did say… is I was impressed with how quickly The kid and the Team dealt with it.
I do NOT care about what the color of anyone’s skin is… I guess that If Martin had tweeted… opps I screwed up… sorry ASAP and CNN also responded within a few hours, that case would have been closed also.
I do not think color was the issue… it was the response that was the problem.
Joetx
@Oh, ok.: I agree that there’s a double standard when a white guy does something homophobic vs. when a black guy does it.
JAW
Also… has anyone noticed that it appears that some of the responses have been removed… several people were responding to posts that “Christopher di spirito” made but there are no original posts right now just #24 from him
christopher di spirito
@JAW: No, I haven’t noticed. My “original post” is no 25 from about 25 minutes ago — not, no. 24. It would be very unusual for several people to respond to my post or any other post so early in the day. Maybe your computer is jacked?
Hue-Man
Hockey attitudes to gays have changed with the leadership of Brian Burke, one of the most powerful men in hockey. Here’s what he said about gay hockey players in a recent interview on George Stromboulopoulos. Also good parenting advice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlJ9-ZtZjS0
JAW
@christopher di spirito: LOL… Interesting…
numbers 8 and 18 show @christopher…. as part of the responses… yur post # 24 (or 25) is gone… someone is deleating you
Pocket Otter
Isn’t it about time we used the word to our advantage and wear it as a badge of honor, like “queer” is used here or “nigger” is used in rap, rather than get so bent out of shape? My brother—one of my best friends in the world—always greets me by saying, “What’s up, faggot?” I take it as a term of endearment, because he means it that way.
@Joetx: Yes, there is absolutely a double-standard. A white man uses the word “ho” and he’s fired; a black man says he’d stab a gay kid, he gets a TV show.
@JAW: Yes, very suspicious that there are responses to posts that don’t seem to exist. Is Queerty in the practice of silencing voices from the gay community?
stoopid louie
@JAW: I agree it’s time we embraced this word rather than be offended by it, much as the word “queer” is acceptable here and “nigger” is acceptable in rap. My best friend and I always greet one another by saying, “What’s up, faggot?” and everyone who hears it finds it hysterically funny.
@Joetx: Yes, there is definitely a double-standard. A white guy says “ho” on TV and he’s fired. A black guy publicly says he wants to stab his gay kid, he gets a TV show. Go figure.
Idi Amin Dada
Seeing as how the Foo Fighters aren’t even gay, this seems like much ado about nothing.
mike
There is not a double standard when it comes to race. Would u guys show me another instance when the guy took it upon himself to apologize within minutes???
GreatGatsby2011
@Idi Amin Dada: So a slur is only a slur when being directed at the demographic for which it was initially intended? So I can use the “N-Word” to my heart’s content as long as I’m not directing it toward an actual black person, and that’s perfectly acceptable? I might be crazy, but I’m pretty slurs don’t work that way.
Michael
You guys are just so beyond pathetic. This is a case of a guy trying to make a joke, figuring out what he did wrong and apologizing within minutes. To try to boil this down to “white guys get off easier” is just dumb. Did he say he’d stab his gay kid? Was this directed with venom at someone particular? Or was he trying to make a dumb play on words in order to diss a band. Trying to play the race card here isn’t helping your cause at all and it’s obnoxious.
Please, by all means, give me a time when ANYONE blurted out the f-word, which by the way wasn’t directed to ANYONE imparticular, and then took it upon themselves to apologize within minutes.
Just lame. Have you guys heard of Brett Ratner? Did he suddenly become Latino over night or is this just some dumb-asses trying to play the race card and failing miserably?
Aiden
@Michael: Bullshit. If he was black the majority of comments would be about how homophobic black people are. When a black person says something homophobic it’s never just about them as an individual; it always becomes about black people in general. Nobody here has a problem with calling out homophobes, we have a problem with taking that moment to denigrate a whole race of people. You can pretend that doesn’t happen all you want to.
J Stratford
Too bad Queerty is censoring me.
To those who say it is a joke – it is not! The Fword is pejorative, no matter what. The N word is pejorative no matter who its referred to. Same banana.
To those who say it he apologized – he did not! He made up a flimsy excuse. HE never said that he wont use the word again or acknowledge that it is hurtful.
To those who say we should let up on him. This is the internet, we can criticize his use of pejorative words and we are correct. Giving him a pass like @JAW is doing because he finds him cute is beyond reprehensible! He is fugly. but I guess some people’s standards of beauty is as low as their ethical standards.
Eric Rudolf was cute too. It didn’t mean he was a good person
RD White II
John DiSalvatore retweeted it… so why isn’t he suspended as well? he is just as guilty as the other guy… if you’re going to start something finish it. don’t tell player A not to do something then tell player B that it’s perfectly ok. Because, my dear friends, that is NOT ok.
shannon
“OMG HE IS THE HOTTEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN” IN 1….2……3….4…….ALSO GAY WHITE MEN GET BASHED AND KILLED BY WHITE MEN……LOL…THAT IS THE JOKE OF IT ALL….
Joe
Wow..is it just me, or are a lot of people just dead from the neck up? I’m not a Twitter tweeter, but it seems to me that they chose the right name for their product, considering the people that keep getting caught saying stupid things are twits.
michael
For all of u guys whining about racism u have yet to give an example of another person in the media who apologized on their own within minutes. What’s classic is I am guessing u think Brett Ratner is Latino.
Let’s review the previous example of homophobia lately:
1) I would stab my gay kid…. The apology didn’t come til his career had gone down the drain.
2) Rehersal is for fags…. He lost his Oscar hosting gig and apologized only after the shite storm had hit.
3) I thought the Foo Faggots sucked… A diss aimed at a band with an apology coming as quickly as anyone has ever seen and without anyone making him do it.
4) If a guy is into a dude wearing underwear beat the shite out if him…. Coming from someone who has a long history of homophobia with the apology coming after CNN fired his ass.
Gee, which one isn’t like the rest?
Btw, racism? Grow half a brain and then let’s talk. U might want to take ur head out of ur ass first though.
As for those who are asking for proof that blacks are the most homophobic…. Well check the voting surveys. The fact is right there for you.
AlriteBytch
@michael: “well check the voting surveys” from which state, Utah or Idaho since they have such a large population of Black Americans, silly melanin challenged racist. Tsk. Tsk.
Pip
Good. Funny to see these stupid ass holes let the ID go on twitter and reveal what crap shit fucks they are.
michael
What I’d like to know is why Queerty is censoring and deleting postings when there is nothing which constitutes them doing so. First Amendment? No big deal, you know. Just go ahead and delete them.
And, may I say again, grow a brain. Yup, the fact 80% of African American’s voting against gay marriage means nothing. Whites and Asians voting for gay marriage, with over 50% doing so, means nothing. This guy making a JOKE and then apologizing on his own means nothing. Advocating violence against gay people means nothing.
Queerty, as usual, you mean nothing.
James
It’s nice to see Queerty being at the forefront of censorship. If Queerty is deleting postings which do not violate any set of standards then it really shows, once again, just how low class this site really is.
The bitter one in the corner making catty comments about the people who are actually having a good time? That’s Queerty.