hold your thirst

Gays are thirsting over NFL star Nick Bosa in Kim K’s new underwear ad, but let’s not forget his homophobic past

Screenshot via Twitter

The gays are thirsting over the trio of athletes starring in the first male ad campaign for Kim Kardashian’s shapewear clothing line, Skims.

There’s just one problem.

One of the models has a very problematic social media past!

Soccer superstar Neymar Jr., Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa are all featured in the ad campaign.

Objectively speaking, they each look really, really hot… in a conventionally handsome cis male sorta way.

The four-year-old brand is launching a new men’s lineup Thursday, which will include briefs, undershirts, boxers, and leggings. Much like the women’s line, the men’s version focuses on body positivity and stretches from extra small to 5X.

Expanding into men is a savvy business move for Kim K, considering men’s underwear is a $5.7 million industry. The company is valued at a whopping $4 billion.

It was also wise for Kardashian to feature three pro athletes, continuing the hallowed tradition of male sports stars shedding most of their clothing for underwear ads. Gilgegous-Alexander is a rising star, and Neymar is one of the most iconic soccer players in the world.

Better yet, he’s also an emerging ally. Earlier this year, the Brazilian star supported pro soccer player Jakub Jankto when the Czech native publicly came out as gay.

“It’s an important day. Everyone is free, there should be less prejudice, whether that’s homophobia, racism, or any kind of discrimination,” said Neymar, via Get Football News. “I wasn’t aware [of the announcement]. Every human being should be free to do as they want.”

Unfortunately, we can’t attribute any pro-LGBTQ+ quotes to Bosa, who’s seemingly capturing the most attention on Gay Twitter™.

Prior to getting drafted, Bosa, the 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, called Colin Kaepernick a “clown” for calling attention to racial injustice, and vociferously supported Donald Trump. In addition, he “liked” Instagram posts with racial and homophobic slurs.

When first asked about the controversial posts–which are now deleted–Bosa didn’t exactly sound like a changed man.

“I had to,” he said. “There is a chance I might end up in San Francisco.”

Sure enough, the Niners selected Bosa with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. During his first press conference as a 49er, Bosa apologized for his ignorant social media activity.

“I’m sorry if I hurt anybody,” he told reporters. “I definitely didn’t intend for that to be the case.”

“I think me being here [San Francisco] is even better for me as a person, because I don’t think there’s anywhere, any city, that you could really be in that would help you grow as much as this one will.”

The 49ers said they were comfortable drafting Bosa, because he was well-liked by his college teammates and coaches, and shared the problematic posts when he was a teenager.

On the surface, that’s a reasonable explanation.

It’s very common, of course, for people to evolve from their teenage years to adulthood. And the 49ers remain one of the most pro-LGBTQ+ organizations in the NFL, even featuring its own gender-neutral clothing line.

But as far as we can tell, Bosa hasn’t made any tangible efforts towards ingratiating himself with the LGBTQ+ community, or talked about the posts since 2019. Not to mention, “I’m sorry if I hurt anybody” hardly counts as an apology.

We need a little more evidence before we can declare he’s a changed man. Until then, we’ll respectfully hold our thirst.

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