Michael Cole Homophobic Slur

[StylezClash3:16]

So I've got mixed emotions on this.

On the one hand I agree that everyone is being oversensitive. He obviously doesn't hate gay people.

However:

1) WWE has a responsibility as a company towards their bottom line. Bad press right before the biggest show of the year would make all those parents think twice about ordering mania.

2) While I use the word "******" a lot with my friends, in public the word takes on a different context. I'm neither offended by the word nor care when others use it. Hell, its a fun word to say.

But to those of you who wonder what gay people think when you use the word "******" I'd kindly direct you the following Louis CK clip:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/a8ac764340/louie-s-poker-scene

Its both hilarious and relevant.

3) Using the bible to prove anything is the sign of an intellectual coward.

So you like passages do you?

"But if ... evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones..." (Deuteronomy 22:20,21)

"Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ." (Ephesians 6:5)

"Slaves, obey your human masters in everything; don't work only while being watched, in order to please men, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord." (Colossians 3:22)

"Slaves are to be submissive to their masters in everything, and to be well-pleasing, not talking back ." (Titus 2:9)

Finally: Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, (1 Corinthians 11:14)

The bible teaches slavery, sexism, racism, condones rape and asks you not to think for yourself. If you're a happy Christian, cool. To each his own. But don't try to pass off your book as evidence please.

Jesus Christ...2000 years later and you can't tell people to be nicer to each other without being threatened to be put on a cross.

And for those Christian who are for some reason offended by my even handed satire of your religion...heres an idea. Forgive me! It's what your lord would want.

I am not gay nor do I like gays but I am an American and I believe in freedom. And you can't be a proud American while saying others can't have equal rights without being a hypocrite, an intellectual coward and...quite honestly...a fucking ******.

Well why don't Glaad just forgive Micheal Cole?! I swear people think the worst things about the bible when they haven't even read it! You do know that some versions of the bible are considered the laughing stock of literature by christians right?! What you just said would be like you God forbid having you're mother die, I make fun of her and I say forgive me it's not a big deal! Seriously people have the worst ideas of christians these days they think we're some kind of freaks when that's a small percentage of us! Watch you're self dude this had nothing to do with the bible this had to deal with WWE/

 

[XXJJ]

LOL Vince cant fire Cole. Cole draws more heat than most of his heel wrestlers. Its not that big of deal he took it off his twitter and apologized what more do want from the guy?

Vince shouldn't even be in bed with any of these special interest groups. Vince himself has said and done a lot of crazy things. Stop trying to act so high and mighty all of sudden. I mean come your a wrestling company... Its just entertainment.

 

[Piss Bucket]

Cole thinks he's the second coming of Jim Ross, WTF?! IMO Michael Cole isn't fit to piss in JR's pot! I just read on the main WZ site that the only reason Cole wasn't sacked on the spot for his Twitter outburst is cos he's friends with John Cena backstage and he thinks that if ever he was in trouble, Cena would go into bat for him, no, just, no.

On topic though before I get infracted for spamming, I hate all homophobia, I am not gay, but I still hate all homophobia and all references to it, especially from a complete cockmeister like Michael Cole.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

You cant say anything without repercussion.

When could you? Seriously, when could you ever say whatever the hell you liked in public and nobody could call you on it?

People's main problem here is that they seem to think freedom of speech only applies to them and not to anyone else using THEIR freedom of speech to call you on your bigoted shit.

Cole shouldn't be fired for it, but he was wrong to use such a word in public. How people can't see the difference between calling their dumb ass buddies cock savaging weasel **** in their Mom's Basement (c) and Michael Cole using a gay slur in public, I'll never know.

 

[Pabartl787]

As I read through the entire thread I am seeing something that is at the heart of this issue along with many others....A terrible double standard that has become more and more seen in our society.
The only real issue I have with gays is that they do shove their lifestyle down our thoats and demand that we respect it. They hold their little parades and demand that we respect it, but if heterosexuals wanted to throw a parade then GLAAD and others would get their panties in a wad.

What Cole did was stupid and he should have known better but too much is being of this and pretty much anything that "offends" people these days. But should he be burned at the stake for it like some have suggested?No, not at all. He should be talked to and thats it (and I hate Cole BTW). People just need to get over it and move on.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

The only real issue I have with gays is that they do shove their lifestyle down our thoats and demand that we respect it. They hold their little parades and demand that we respect it, but if heterosexuals wanted to throw a parade then GLAAD and others would get their panties in a wad.

Uh, what? How do gays shove their lifestyle down your throat? By being, what, gay? Should they act straight around everyone? Explain, please.

Also, the fact that you think GLAAD would try to stop anybody anywhere in the US having a straight pride march is as laughable as it wholly depressing that you actually think that. GLAAD simply look out for the people they represent - no different than any other minority group. For example - have a look at your post here. I've changed one or two words so let me know how you think it sounds.

The only real issue I have with [blacks] is that they do shove their lifestyle down our thoats and demand that we respect it. They hold their little parades and demand that we respect it, but if [whites] wanted to throw a parade then GLAAD and others would get their panties in a wad.

How does that sound?

 

[Reddog1146]

i do not think that this should be a big deal. but where i come from the word just means jerk, idiot, etc. it depends on how he said it. he should not be buried, he gets more reactions than the miz and that is saying something.

 

[nbda1997]

While I'm all for free speech, and there is no law in the US against hurting people's feelings, I still think Michael Cole's tweet was a fire-able offense. Since his Twitter account is verified and linked to his WWE character, anything he posts to it represents the company. In that sense, I don't think its any different from sending an Email using your corporate address that contains a racial, ethnic or otherwise slur

Besides the partnership with GLAAD, isn't WWE supposed to be a PG entertainment medium?

 

[MaxSteel]

http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/art...otion-upset-over-wwes-handling-of-cole-127389

I know I'm gonna be crucified for this, but.. This made me rofl!!!
Pro Gay Wrestling Federation XDDDD
And their champion.. The Gay Avenger !!!

Some may not admit it, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who cracked upon reading this.

 

[towahed]

http://progaywrestling.com/#

seriously these guys are bitching about it?
there organisation is a joke, have a look on the link about. How can they moan about it when every wrestler they have on there roster's gimmick is about them being gay.

 

[Toroc102]

Um I might be taking a leap here, but for one thing, I'm willing to bet the reason Cole isn't fired is becuase that would be a highly hypocritical move on WWE's part. I mean they make gay jokes all the time. Just look up any of Cena's old raps. Hell just this past Monday I was like oh no, Rocks going to call Cena a homo but he said homeless power ranger instead. That whole promo was subtly insulting Cena's manhood. Kind've like when instead of cussing Cena says Fudge that or something stupid, instead of calling Cena a homo he called him a "homeless Power Ranger".

Vince is business man and of course he's supposed to act appalled, but come on, nothing in the WWE world makes me think Vince is a big gay supporter. If he's defending gay people its for political purposes only. As a matter of fact, this whole thing sounded like a scripted storyline to me. Lets see some of the original WZ post:

"WWE announcer Michael Cole used the sexual slur "******" on his official Twitter page in a response to a post by fellow broadcaster Josh Mathews.

Cole eventually deleted the post and followed up with a message that stated, "I apologize to any and all who were offended by my tweet toward young Josh Mathews. It was obviously not meant the way it was taken."

WWE responded as well, claiming they alerted GLAAD to Cole's tweet and addressed the situation with him. "Michael will be included in the training session being done by GLAAD."

Uh, the WWE alerted GLAAD? It was not meant the way it was taken? I call bullshit.

 

[Kaneanite]

TMZ.com is reporting that the Pro Gay Wrestling Federation, PGW, is upset that WWE has not suspended Michael Cole for his Twitter comment made this past weekend. PGW Champion The Gay Avenger said the use of the word was "intolerant and insensitive" and encourages a "hostile bullying environment." Furthermore, he is upset that WWE hasn't punished Cole more than simply making him attend GLAAD sensitivity training.

(WrestleZone.com - http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/art...otion-upset-over-wwes-handling-of-cole-127389)

What are your thoughts on this issue and others where WWE is too soft or too hard on punishing their talent? Cena saying "ass" or whatever and getting fined but then the Rock does it and nothing happens. Stuff like that.

My opinion on this and how the WWE treats/punishes their superstars is that I am not the WWE so I do not decide the punishments. Bottom line. From what I read, Cole deleted the tweet almost right after posting it. Does that justify it? Hell no. Michael Cole is a fucking idiot for this and needs to realize that he is a celebrity (I guess I have low requirements for what it means to be a celebrity... but anyway) and that people will ALWAYS have an eye on him.. especially on the internet and twitter of all places. But nonetheless, WWE punished him and that's that. I've never even heard of gay wrestling and to be quite honest who cares what they think? They are not the one's punishing Cole, WWE is and has. One company's policy is different than another's.

But what do I know? I don't run a company, let alone punish people. What are your thoughts?

 

[Richard]

I think that while they have every right to be offended, saying he should be suspended right now is a bit silly.

As a pro wrestling company themselves, surely they know that we're not even a week out from WrestleMania with an advertised match with Michael Cole and WWE can't back out on that now and he has to stay on. Surely they undestand that it wouldn't make sense to suspend someone 5 days from WrestleMania when they have a match coming up, maybe Michael Cole will have a break after then but definately nothing before Mania.

And yeah, Michael Cole works for WWE, no PGWF, so the policy will probably be a bit different. I'm sure using anti gay taunts in PGWF is a lot different than it is in WWE.

 

[Snoe]

This is just me but I think Michael Cole should get a slap on the wrist, a dont do it again speech and thats it. He appologized and is going to a sympathy session for GLAAD sounds good to me.

By the way I wonder if they use "suck it" taunts in PGW.

 

[AngryCenaFan]

I am so sick of the hypocrites on the internet that come here with a holier than thou attitude. We say things like this everyday, GLAAD needs to grow a pair and stop being so sensitive and so do all of you that get butt hurt over things like this(pun not intended lol)

 

[AmericanDragonSW]

The only reason the WWE hasn't acted on it is because they put so much into the match at mania where Lawler is going to brutalize Cole beyond all recognition. If they do anything towards Cole, it's probably not going to be until AFTER wrestlemania. Yes there are guys in the ring that use gay jokes or if you go back to ECW, wrestlers have used words like that. The only problem here is that they're pro wrestlers and acting as their characters. As a broadcaster and journalist, and I use those terms loosely in the case of Monkey Boy Michael Cole, those guys are supposed to maintain more of a standard in terms of senses of judgement and professionalism. Both of which Cole failed to do because he's on such a high that he's getting the spotlight on him and thinks that he's untouchable. The only thing I can hope for is that this is the last time the WWE gives a push to a guy who is nothing more than a below average announcer who only got put into his current announcer position because there was nobody else.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

I just want to add a couple points if I may...

gay jokes are one thing, not justifying them but just want to distinguish that from what Cole said... Cole's use of the word "******" is a slur, something much worse than a tasteless joke which is one reason this is a big deal compared to what Rock/Cena were saying to each other

second... if people could take the homosexuality, minority, etc issue out of this and just look at it from a business standpoint what do you think of Cole... imagine that you just signed a major new client and some lower level employee says something that ANYONE would have known would offend that client, wouldn't you be pissed and want to fire that employee. This issue has nothing to do with homosexuality per se, instead it is an employee embarrassing the company by offending one of it's newest partners who by the way would help lead to much more business in the future than this one employee will.

 

[berlinbrawler]

I must say I feel this whole thing has been blown out of proportions.

Yes, it was bad. Yes, it was insensitive. Yes, it should have consequences.

And I'm sure it did. Have you ever been in the unfortunate position of having your boss tear you a new one and letting you know that by rights you should be getting the boot right then and there? I've been there and it's not fun at all. I'm pretty sure Cole learned his lesson.

That being said Cole said one word. One word! And I'm pretty sure he meant no more by it then when you call someone a turd. People say it every day and mean nothing by it (which is a very bad thing in and of itself and something we as a society have to work on, I admit) and no one thinks anything of it. But God forbid a celebrity has such a slip. Immediately he transforms into Hitler. I'm pretty sure the gay community will live. Let it go.

Remember Eddie Murphy's stand up comedy film (coincidentally entitles RAW) in the 80s? In it he rips pretty viciously into the gays. ****** this, ****** that - and it was perfectly fine at the time. Homosexuals were't amused at all, obviously, but no one cared about them then. These days if a comedian did this it would be career suicide, and rightfully so. I must say we as a society have come a long way since then. We still have a long way to go, but the progress is undeniable.

Cole got his slap on the wrist, and to be perfectly honest, I don't think much more is warranted. He is human and humans make mistakes, even big ones. When the dog poops on the carpet you don't get a new dog, you push his nose into the mess and let him know it was bad, so he will learn. And Cole's face is covered in shit right now.

 

[AmericanDragonSW]

This is sort of off topic, though still has to do with Cole. This could have to do also with the heat for the gay slur, who knows? But supposedly, at the press conference, wrestlezone reported that Cole was getting so much hate that he couldn't even say what he was supposed to and was even getting visibly frustrated with the fact that he couldn't get his promo done. That being said, setting aside how unruly fans can be, do you think this is proof that pushing Cole to be the most hated person in WWE may have been a little too far. Because clearly if what was reported in that fan report on Wrestlezone happened, then clearly Cole was completely clueless on what comes with being a heel. He went from sucking behind the announce table to being an obnoxious irritating bastard. What did he expect the fans to do? Welcome him with open arms? Is he that oblivious to how many people hate him right now? And going as far as to be visibly frustrated with not getting the promo done and feeling disrespected and even going as far as to say along the lines that he won't continue until they stop or something like that, clearly he's not doing his job. He's built himself into this tremendous heel and he needs to accept what comes with it.

 

[berlinbrawler]

Oh, he'll learn to cope with it, I'm sure. Vickie learned it, too, after all. She learned to talk despite the overwhelmingly loud jeers and hisses she generates every time she opens her mouth. Cole will learn to do the same.

 

[Ferreira]

I feel this isn't more relevant than Vickie Guerrero being called a pig, fat, and related.

Michael Cole was making a joke with a guy we all know is his friend, friends all the time joke about it and call each other by insulting them, it's not like something new. It was a tweet from a guy with responsabilities? Of course. Do I honestly care about something like that? Nop, I couldn't care less.

I feel that calling Vickie Guerrero fat, ugly, pig is way worse than this. The majority of WWE fans didn't read the tweet but you can bet that almost anyone who watches WWE thinks that Vickie Guerrero is a pig because she is fatter than the other girls. I don't think it's a good message to sent to young kids.

 

[SomeAreSet]

I think Cole just got caught up in the moment.He was trying to gain some heat via twitter so he called Josh Matthews a ******.It's a terrible slur,sure,but should he be fired?No.He said a word he shouldn't have said,and he got his ass handed to him by Vince.It doesn't mean Cole's a homophobe.Don't judge a man's character because of one word that he uttered.He knew he messed up,that's why he apologised.If Michael Cole really was a homophobe and he walked around calling gay workers ******s,then his ass would have been fired a long long time ago.

To be frank,I doubt it would even be a problem if the WWE did not have a partnership with GLAAD.Cena spouted off homophobic jokes on a regular basis and the WWE had no problems with it until GLAAD called to complain.

 

[SomeAreSet]

I feel this isn't more relevant than Vickie Guerrero being called a pig, fat, and related....I feel that calling Vickie Guerrero fat, ugly, pig is way worse than this. The majority of WWE fans didn't read the tweet but you can bet that almost anyone who watches WWE thinks that Vickie Guerrero is a pig because she is fatter than the other girls. I don't think it's a good message to sent to young kids.

The thing is,Vickie really is fat.Even she knows it,I've read her tweets before and one of the tweets was her mentioning that she's working hard to lose weight.Granted,it's quite hurtful to call someone fat,especially a woman,but then again,calling Vickie fat is like saying the sky is blue.It's just facts.What Cena and The King did was a one-time thing (ok,in the King's case it was a two-time thing).It's not like every time Vickie's on TV everyone else goes "Heeeeeeeeeere's Fatso!"

My point is,making an issue out of calling a fat person fat is like being offended every time Michael Cole calls Jerry Lawler old.Now,if you were to make an issue out of LayCool calling Mickie James fat,then I'd totally understand.That does send the wrong message to young girls.

 

[Ferreira]

The thing is,Vickie really is fat.Even she knows it,I've read her tweets before and one of the tweets was her mentioning that she's working hard to lose weight.Granted,it's quite hurtful to call someone fat,especially a woman,but then again,calling Vickie fat is like saying the sky is blue.It's just facts.What Cena and The King did was a one-time thing (ok,in the King's case it was a two-time thing).It's not like every time Vickie's on TV everyone else goes "Heeeeeeeeeere's Fatso!"
And so what? If Josh Matthews tweeted he was gay then it would make Cole remarks not important?

I guess every fat person knows they are fat. But that doesn't make it right to call them that, it doesn't matter if it is Vickie Guerrero or a guy in the street. World Wrestling Entertainment is targeting kids, and the message they send to them is: "it's right to call a girl fat because she is fat". Do you think that's right?

And I meant by my post is that if can be offended by a tweet from Michael Cole calling a colleague a ****** then why wouldn't you be offended if every single week Vickie Guerrero is on TV they call her fat or make weight/fat jokes?

My point is,making an issue out of calling a fat person fat is like being offended every time Michael Cole calls Jerry Lawler old.Now,if you were to make an issue out of LayCool calling Mickie James fat,then I'd totally understand.That does send the wrong message to young girls.

No it's not the same thing. Calling Jerry Lawler old is not offensive. Calling someone fat it's insulting, at least in the way WWE does it. They don't say: "Vickie is a little overweight, but who cares?", they say: "Vickie Guerrero is so fat that she can't fit in her suit, ahahahah".

And what about Mickie James? It was a storyline! We all know that Mickie James wasn't fat, surely she had a little more weight than Laycool but she always had that weight, and that was a way to build the heels.

But, faces calling someone fat, gay, or whatever, is the worst message you can send to the kids that watch at home or are at the show!

.

 

[AmericanDragonSW]

LaBar and Isenberg on CSR made a point about this. If it were Striker, Matthews or Grisham that did this, Vince would've fired them. If this was a guy on any other sport that does play by play and says it, they're gone. When you're a broadcaster, you're also a public figure and held to a higher standard and as a broadcaster, what comes out of your mouth counts. Cole has been doing play by play and interviews for long enough to know better. I did sports reports for the college radio station I was at and I can promise if I dropped a derogatory word of any kind on the microphone, I'd be gone and not allowed near the microphone again. Nothing has happened to him because it's too close to Mania and they already put way too much into this match to pull the plug on it. He needs to sell the beating he is gonna get. Truth is he's probably gonna get pulled from TV anyway because you can't just have him go back to normal after that match and he's already getting too much heat than they bargained for.