ROH champion Jay Briscoe deleted his Twitter account today after controversial comments he made about his home state of Delaware legalizing same-sex marriage.
Jay Briscoe wrote:
“The Delaware Senate passed a bill yesterday that allows same sex couples to get married. If that makes you happy, then congratulations!!!!!!”
His next tweet was a little more disturbing…:
“…try and teach my kids that there’s nothing wrong with that and I’ll f**ing shoot you”
Much later in the day and after being bombarded by fan outrage, Briscoe posted the following tweet before deleting his account altogether:
“I feel very strongly about how and who should teach kids about certain things but I showed poor judgment by using that analogy and I’m sorry”
This isn’t the first time Jay Briscoe has used Twitter to denounce homosexuality. In 2011, Briscoe used a homophobic slur when in New York City for an ROH event the same day as the Gay Pride Parade.
Ring of Honor has since issued the following statement:
“Ring of Honor Wrestling respects and appreciates every fan regardless of age, gender, race, religion or sexual preference. The recent post by Jay Briscoe does not represent the views or opinions of Ring of Honor Wrestling, its owners, management or employees.”
Harrak’s Hit: While we live in a country of free speech & opinion, Jay Briscoe’s remarks were ignorant and incredibly unprofessional. One has to imagine that ROH officials & Sinclair Broadcasting are furious and are wondering why they made Briscoe their World Champion. I think it’s safe to say that any rumored interested WWE may have had in the Briscoe Brothers has past.
UPDATE at 5:45pm:
Ring of Honor issued the following statement Thursday evening:
“(ROH World champion) Jay Briscoe would like to again express his sincerest apologies and regrets to all, especially his young fans, for his recent hateful Twitter comment. Ring of Honor has insisted that Jay also make a public apology at the Ring of Honor event this Saturday night (in Belle Vernon, Pa.). Jay will address the public during the event.
In addition to this apology, Ring of Honor and Jay have agreed that he will donate his full pay from the next two Ring of Honor events to the Partners Against Hate charitable organization. Partners Against Hate was created to help prevent, deter, and reduce juvenile hate-related behavior.For more information on PAH, visit PartnersAgainstHate.org.”
Harrak’s Hit: As this isn’t Briscoe’s first offense, I say too little too late. Especially since he’s the ROH WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION! In my personal opinion this is the perfect time for ROH to prove to their fans, investors and wrestling world as a whole that they should be considered a major, international organization where stunts and performers like this have no place in their company.
