Jaguar wasted no time in dropping Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice as a spokeswoman for the car maker after she tweeted "Suck on that faggots!" in response to the results of a rugby match.
It’s not known whether the Jaguar agreement involved any financial payment, but Rice will be without a car after the company confirmed it will be confiscating the $100,000-plus Jaguar XF that Rice had been in possession of since the sponsorship deal was penned in February.
Jaguar wasted no time in dropping Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice as a spokeswoman for the car maker after she tweeted “Suck on that faggots!” in response to the results of a rugby match.
It’s not known whether the Jaguar agreement involved any financial payment, but Rice will be without a car after the company confirmed it will be confiscating the $100,000-plus Jaguar XF that Rice had been in possession of since the sponsorship deal was penned in February.
“We will be taking the car that she’s been using back,” Jaguar spokesman Mark Eedle told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Good for Jaguar — words have consequences and they were well within their rights to dump Rice after her idiotic homophobic comments. Their web page devoted to Rice has already been taken down.
While Rice has been blasted by ex-pro rugby player Ian Roberts for her comment, another gay athlete has forgiven her, while not condoning what she said. Diver Matthew Mitcham, a teammate of Rice, tweeted this (I have combined several of his tweets):
It was offensive & very thoughtless, but being friends with her for 2yrs, I know she is not homophobic. … She luvs gays but used very ill-chosen language. … I don’t in any way support or condone WHAT she said, but her apology & remorse is genuine & we are gd friends.
I understand Mitcham standing up for a teammate, and he knows her much better than I. But Rice is a high-profile gold medal-winning athlete and needs to realize that this provides her with great benefits but also responsibilities.