Italian tennis player Fabio Fognini made international headlines two weeks ago when he shouted a homophobic slur over and over again during his Olympic tennis match. Now, he’s trying to make amends.
The 34-year-old repeatedly screamed the word “frocio” (the Italian word for “f*ggot”) at himself as it became clear he was going to lose to his opponent. When the match was over, he angrily threw his racket into a courtside trash can in a fit of rage.
After his antigay outburst went viral around the world, Fognini took to his Instagram stories to blame the heat and humidity for his vile behavior. Because extreme temperatures, evidently, trigger homophobia.
“The heat went to my head,” he posted in Italian against a rainbow background. “In today’s match I used a really stupid expression towards myself.”
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“Obviously, I didn’t want to offend anyone’s sensibilities. I love the LGBT community and I apologize for the nonsense that came out of me.”
Now, in an effort to show that he really is truly sorry, Fognini took the court at the National Bank Open this week in a rainbow-colored sweatband and matching wristbands for his opening-round match. It was his first event since the Olympics debacle.
He also posted a picture of his rainbow get-up to Instagram, along with the caption, “#loveforall.”
We’re all for forgiveness, but wearing a rainbow sweatband and using a generic hashtag after repeatedly shouting an antigay slur in front of literally the entire world feels like the bare minimum. But we have a feeling that’s all we’re going to get out of Fognini, so… apology accepted?
Last month’s incident wasn’t the first time he’s been caught using offensive language while on the job. In 2017, he was kicked out of the U.S. Open for calling an umpire a “bocchinara” (c*cksucker) after he lost his first-round singles match, resulting in him losing his place in the event’s doubles tournament.
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
charlie_jackpot
He’s pretty – the community will forgive him
CatholicXXX
The community forgave the baby and the black hobbit guy, so why not the sexy tennis player.
And by community I mean privileged white women and one only identifies as “queer” because it’s trendy.
JRamonMc
Those sculpted eyebrows tell another story.
mz.sam
A lame gesture and a little too late…Bafungoo!
dhmonarch89
instead of wearing rainbow stuff- how about donating to The Trevor Project or something- $50,000 would be a good start. There was some- though not much pressure put on his sponsors- Armani, K-Swiss, no doubt they had him make another gesture to appease people- or he heard they were getting complaints and to safe guard his contracts- he decided to wear the rainbows…. He’s a hot head with a short fuse- he really doesn’t deserve any more chances after the hate he’s spewed over the years.
dhmonarch89
he’s now limiting comments on his IG account- must have been getting a lot truthful comments he didn’t want to see.
PerhapsYesNoMaybe
Rough to be a bigot when you come from one of the Axis powers that murdered millions of people in an attempt to force fascism across the globe. /s
cuteguy
F^gs will forgive him solely bc of his looks which is sad. He’s an a$$ and putting on a headband is not amends, it’s a joke
Cam
Interesting how, as usual, most of your vitriol is reserved for the LGBTQ community rather than the people who attack them.
montegutdude
As these things go, I can forgive. He screwed up and tried to make amends. I mean, no, he shouldn’t even have these slurs in his vocabulary. But at least it was directed at himself and his apology was swift. I can’t imagine most anti-gay bigots ever sporting rainbow attire on their IG. And just like his outburst, his apology will also be seen around the world. So as long as he doesn’t delete it in a couple days like DaBaby, it should blow over.
inbama
We have to forgive him. He bared his butt for cancer research in the August 2014 Cosmopolitan.
ScottOnEarth
Last I knew, people make mistakes. We ALL do. I don’t know this guy but I’m not going to hate him for one mistake I hope he meant what he said but we all deserve a second chance. ??
hansniemeijer
He could have asked how to wear rainbow. Horizontally first red, than orange etc. Not upside down.