14 DAY TRIAL // At the Lakers game the other night, Kobe Bryant was so upset with one referee’s decision that he yelled at him a very offensive gay slur that was also caught on camera. He’s been fined $100,000 for it and has issued an apology.
As the video here will confirm, shortly after Kobe said down, he yelled at the referee, calling him by the name and then adding, “[expletive]-ing f*ggot.”
Minutes after the incident, it was all over the Internet, with various gay groups (among which GLAAD, the biggest of the kind) condemning Kobe’s action and demanding an honest apology.
NBA Commissioner David Stern also stressed the importance of Kobe owning up to the mistake, regardless of how passionate about the game he may have been when he uttered the slur.
“Kobe Bryant’s comment during last night’s game was offensive and inexcusable,” Stern says in a statement to TMZ.
“While I’m fully aware that basketball is an emotional game, such a distasteful term should never be tolerated. Accordingly, I have fined Kobe $100,000,” Stern adds.
Bryant is now appealing the decision to have him fined because, he says, that’s standard procedure.
“Kobe and everyone associated with the NBA know that insensitive or derogatory comments are not acceptable and have no place in our game or society,” Stern says.
Fine or no fine, Kobe has also apologized to those he offended the most: the gay community, the Human Rights Campaign boss says for the same media outlet.
His excuse was, as expected, that he got so passionate about the game he didn’t even realize that what he was saying was potentially very offensive to many people.
“I applaud Kobe Bryant for his swift apology. We had a very sincere conversation in which he expressed his heartfelt regret for the hurt that his words caused,” Joe Solmonese of the Campaign explains for TMZ.
“He told me that it’s never OK to degrade or tease, and that he understands how his words could unfortunately give the wrong impression that this is appropriate conduct,” Solmonese further says.
In the end, it’s important to walk away from the scandal with a lesson well learned. “At the end of a difficult day, I applaud Kobe for coming forward and taking responsibility for his actions,” Solmonese points out.