"FAGGOT"
GLAAD Feels That the Media is Downplaying Wimbledon Champ's Homophobic Comment
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RELATED • Transcript and Audio of Interview • ESPN Reaction • Los Angeles Times Story |
by Deborah Levinson
with contributions from GLAAD
According to GLAAD, national media outlets have largely ignored or trivialized Wimbledon Men's champion Goran Ivanisevic's use of the word "faggot" during his appearance at the post-championship news conference on Monday, July 9, 2001.
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"First of all, that game, I was 30-Love up. I play some stupid shots. I make myself in trouble. Then first foot fault. Hit great serve. He missed it. First foot fault all tournament. That ugly, ugly lady, she was really ugly, very serious, you know. I was like kind of scared.
Then I hit another second serve, huge. And that ball was on the line, was not even close. And that guy, he looks like a faggot little bit, you know. This hair all over him. He call it. I couldn't believe he did it. Just, you know, in two seconds, I won point twice and I'm down 4-2. Then I got little crazy, you know." |
While criticizing a call by a lines judge, Ivanisevic said: "Then I hit another second serve, huge. And that ball was on the line, was not even close. And that guy, he looks like a faggot little bit, you know. This hair all over him. He call it. I couldn't believe he did it."
The comment, which drew scattered laughter from the reporters in attendance, has received minimal coverage in the press. Only ESPN and the Los Angeles Times have covered the Ivanisevic incident in any depth.
ESPN, after being contacted by GLAAD, ran both a segment on its prime-time SportsCenter program and a detailed article on its Web site. And Times sports columnist Diane Pucin, in her excellent July 11 front-page column, addressed not only the homophobic comment but also the media's silence regarding it, citing several media outlets that either failed to report or buried Ivanisevic's comment.
"GLAAD is concerned that an athlete can casually drop a word like "faggot" in a high-profile media interview and not only is there very little media coverage of his comment, but several reporters in the room can be heard laughing at it," said GLAAD Entertainment Media Director Scott Seomin. "If Ivanisevic had used the "n-word" to refer to a linesman, I doubt that press reaction would have been this muted. I hope the media do not have a double-standard when responding to or reporting on public expressions of bigotry."
Ivanisevic didn't limit his harsh words to just gay men, but also called a female official an "ugly, ugly lady," and John McEnroe an "idiot."
Interestingly enough the transcript of the interview includes all of Ivanisevic's pearls, but the Real Audio version has been edited, with several of the choice remarks excised.
In Pride,
Deborah
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