NBA superstar Dwight Howard sat down with Fox Sports 1’s Kristine Leahy last night to address the gay rumors that have been following him since last year.
“I’m not gay,” Howard said point blank. “There’s people who have different problems in life and they have to hide. They have to put on the mask every day, and it’s like, I don’t wanna wear no mask, I just wanna be.”
Howard found himself having to deny gay rumors last November when a man by the name of Masin Elije alleged that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with the NBA player, who later offered him “hush money” in exchange for signing an NDA about their affair after it ended, then threatened to “beat the sh*t out of him” when he refused.
33-year-old Howard told Leahy that the story was completely fabricated and resulted in him receiving hate mail from people he had never met before in his life.
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“I saw all the hate, the pure hate, from people that I’ve never met before, just pile up everywhere I went,” Howard said.
Ultimately, this helped him understand why so many athletes are afraid to come out.
“I saw how a lot of people would feel, whether they’re gay or they’re straight, or whether they have issues, people are afraid to be who they are,” he continued.
“They’re afraid to just step out and be, like you said, because they’re afraid of what other people might say or think about them. And so that situation made me realize, you not like this, but just be you, be free.”
But homophobes, being homophobes, refused to believe Howard, insisting that he is gay, and then mocking him for it.
After the interview aired, they came out in full force on Twitter, essentially proving the point he was trying to make: that many people remain closeted for fear of the treatment they will receive after coming out.
How Dwight Howard thinking that somehow he isn't gay is beyond me…. ??
— Khary Glaude (@KP1738) July 18, 2019
Dwight Howard did a sitdown to say he not gay?????? pic.twitter.com/iDAry9Ipw5
— 22 2s (@Pierr3DaLord) July 16, 2019
Dwight Howard gay as hell son lmao… Ain't nobody tripping but him
— ?? The B-U-N™?? (@BayouBun) July 16, 2019
#dwighthoward:
“I’m not gay fam”Me: pic.twitter.com/HI6gSsxdtz
— GUERNICA (@GUERNICAbless) July 16, 2019
after that interview I’m convinced Dwight Howard gay. He was going way to deep trying to convince himself
— Dre S. (@smoothnruggish_) July 16, 2019
"Im not Gay" – Dwight Howard pic.twitter.com/58wvAc6sqg
— OneDay (@AheadOfMyTim3) July 17, 2019
I didn’t think Dwight Howard was actually gay, UNTIL he did an interview about not being gay.
— Hand Banana (@Im_ColdAF) July 18, 2019
Dwight Howard: I'm not gay pic.twitter.com/6mkfQ5jwD6
— Abie Grunfeld (@abiegrunfeld) July 16, 2019
Dwight Howard is as gay as AIDS bro idc what he says
— La Flama Blanca (@chepdollasWAVY) July 18, 2019
Meanwhile, Elije responded to Howard’s interview by tweeting:
None of this will matter in court. He can continue his rants to protect his image but he knows, like I know, like our lawyers know I HAVE PROOF he harassed & threatened me AND threatened my lawyers! I said what I said, I stand by what I said.
The tweet has since been deleted; however, he later tweeted: “I don’t get mad, I just get money.”
I don’t get mad, I just get money.
— Ah-Mazìn (@MasinElije) July 18, 2019
Related: NBA superstar Dwight Howard says gay rumors “set me free”
JaredMacBride
To the person who typed “Dwight Howard is as gay as AIDS.” Please go immediately to some other planet. You’re too revolting to live on this one.
Chrisk
They hypocritical POS considers himself a Christian too.
Josh447
What people forget to ask these guys is ‘are you bisexual?’. It’s easy to slide on the gay note if in fact one is bisexual.
Kangol2
Terminology: Dwight Howard is accused of having cheated on one femme/gender fluid man with another, and attending trans parties, which led the original femme/gender fluid man to out him. So is he gay? What does “gay” mean under these circumstances? Would “bi” be correct? Queer?
Terrycloth
The very first picture if I showed it to people gay and straight and asked them “do you think this person is gay ? ” I bet most would say absolutely yes.