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The top official of the Human Rights Campaign group confirmed that LA Lakers guard, Kobe Bryant has “officially apologized” over the anti-gay slur. HRC was the first gay rights group to demand full apology from Bryant following the incident at the LA Lakers game against San Antonio Spurs last Tuesday.
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Bryant drew praise from the HRC president when the 13-time-All Star player came forward making amends.
“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,” HRC President Joe Solmonese was quoted as saying by Forbes Magazine.
Solmonese shared in the statement what Bryant said over the insulting remarks.
The gay rights advocate said: “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.
The HRC official noted that Kobe had in fact “took responsibility” for making the anti-gay comment that had spurred angry reactions from various groups and had earned mounting criticisms against the 5-time champion.
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“At the end of a difficult day, I applaud Kobe for coming forward and taking responsibility for his actions,” Solmonese concluded.
NBA slapped Kobe with $100,000 fine over the incident. Before the fine was imposed, the NBA star player had also issued a statement in response to the negative criticisms thrown at him following the anti-gay remarks he hurled at a referee during a game early this week.
He first called everyone to read between the lines instead of taking ‘literally’, the words uttered at Lakers’ game against San Antonio Tuesday.
He said, “What I said last night should not be taken literally.”
The five-time champion asserted the nature of his actions and the words used while he was expressing his anger when called ‘technical foul’ during the game.
“My actions were out of frustration during the heat of the game, period.” Bryant was quoted as saying in a statement posted on NBA.com.
Gay and lesbian rights group called, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has earlier demanded for apology from the 13-times All-Star Lakers, describing Bryant’s outburst as “horribly offensive”.
"For better or worse, Kobe Bryant has created a teachable moment for the millions of fans - many of them young - who saw that outburst on the floor," HRC President Joe Solmonese, said according to Reuters.
"And the right thing to do now is to apologize and take responsibility for suggesting that the worst thing you can do to someone is to scream out a gay slur. This kind of homophobic outburst has dangerous consequences, even more so when it comes from a celebrity in the national spotlight."
