*Manny Pacquiao has already lost his endorsement deal with Nike because of homophobic comments he made during a interview, and Magic Johnson recently took to Twitter to applaud the brand for cutting ties with him.
Johnson – who has a flamboyant gay son – also revealed his furor over the hateful comments in a series of tweets, vowing to never watch another Pacquiao fight because he said gay people are “worse than animals.”
During an interview with a Filipino television station earlier this week, Manny compared homosexuals to animals.
“Have you seen any animal having male-to-male or female-to-female relations?” Pacquiao said. “If you have male-to-male or female-to-female [relationships], then people are worse than animals.”
Pacquiao received major backlash for the comments, and Nike issued a statement in support of the LGBT community.
“We find Manny Pacquiao’s comments abhorrent,” Nike said in a statement. “Nike strongly opposes discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting and standing up for the rights of the LGBT community.”
Check out Johnson’s tweets below:
The professional boxer made an apology video on Instagram, along with the following caption:
“I’m sorry for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals. Please forgive me for those I’ve hurt. I still stand on my belief that I’m against same sex marriage because of what the Bible says, but I’m not condemning LGBT. I love you all with the love of the Lord. God Bless you all and I’m praying for you.”
Despite the apology, Pacquiao isn’t backtracking. Shortly after being fired by Nike, Manny posted a bible verse on Instagram referencing same-sex relations.
The post has since been deleted but Manny quoted Leviticus 20.13:
“If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death, their blood will be on their own heads.”
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