Meet James Gelb. He’s a slumlord, er, landlord from Santa Barbara, California who may be facing charges by police after a video of him shouting antigay slurs at a man in public went viral.
Related: Man served eviction papers for being gay, landlord cites her “Christian values”
The ugly confrontation happened on November 7 in downtown Santa Barbara. In the video, Gelb can be heard shouting the word “fag” more than a dozen times.
According to The Noozhawk:
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Early in the video, the two men appear to be talking about Gelb’s property holdings, a Del Playa Drive portfolio that is on the market for $79 million.
Part of the exchange is unintelligible, but Gelb can be heard stating that “it is none of your f*cking business,” followed by “escrow hasn’t closed yet.”
After Bertrand says he’s “looking forward to seeing that,” Gelb asks, “Who the f*ck do you think you are? What’s your net worth, you little f*ck? What are you worth? Who do you think you are?”
Glancing back at the camera, Bertrand replies, “I work for the people of Isla Vista.”
After Bertrand tells Gelb that he treats his residents “very poorly,” Gelb explodes with a loud “F*ck you!”
Despite damning evidence to the contrary, Gelb insists he’s not a homophobe.
Related: Couple Can’t Escape Homophobic Landlord From Hell Who Follows Them Everywhere
He also said that his brother was gay and died of AIDS in 1994 “after a 22-year battle,” which would mean his brother contracted the virus in 1972, which is odd given that the virus wasn’t identified until almost 10 years later, in the early ’80s.
Meanwhile, Bertrand released a statement on Facebook about the incident:
Mr. Gelb’s actions caused me to fear for my personal safety, leaving me traumatized for the rest of the evening. His disgusting behavior shows that in 2017, LGBTQ people in our community can still face harassment, discrimination, and the threat of violence. I hope that Mr. Gelb can heal from the trauma that has caused him to treat people this way, but I also demand that he be held accountable for this unconscionable attack on the LGBTQ community.
Watch the upsetting video below.
Isla Vista Landlord Videotaped in Anti-Gay, Expletives-Laden Tirade Against Gay Community Activist from Noozhawk on Vimeo.
Stache
I don’t think I’d be able to walk away from the shithead. I sure wouldn’t fear for my safety from this pillsbury dough guy.
Stache
Wow. This guy is serious slime. Check out his yelp reviews.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/del-playa-rentals-isla-vista
Kangol
What a homophobic pig. Note that he could not help repeatedly bringing up gay sex and envisioning the gay guy he was attacking having gay sex. It’s an obsession with so many homophobic creeps!
radiooutmike
They do tend do talk about gay sex…a lot. More than those of use who, you know, actually have gay sex.
Xzamilloh
I think he legitimately wanted to see that guy get blanked in the blank. I don’t blame the little homophobe… guy had quite the tight body. He wouldn’t let that butt-f*ck thing go, would he??? Bet he has black friends, too, just in case he’s walking down the street n-wording it up about Obama. I’m just making stuff up now.
Kieran
He MAY be facing charges? This is the clearest case of raw hate speech caught on video that I’ve seen in a long time.
fur_hunter
This guy isn’t homophobic just like Roy Moore isn’t a pedophile, child molester and rapist.
PinkoOfTheGange
There is an explanation out that claims he has Aspergers and his brother died of AIDS in 1972 on top of claiming he was called a pedophile 1st.
He usually can clean his act up when he sees a camera so i guess the check has cleared on DPS.
btw like Mussolini kept the trains on time, he kept his buildings very nice; it is the management style that sucked, not really slums
Kieran
I’m sure he’ll be claiming to be a holocaust survivor before long.
JustHaizy
all I have to say to him is how’s your relationship status going again? I imagine not so well
baal61
Law Suite’ where are the cops?