06/30/2011
On Sunday night, a Red Bull Racing crewman was given the boot when his alleged homophobic tweets were made public to his employers. Jeremy Fuller, a tire changing, contract worker was boarding his plane in San Francisco where he snapped a picture of a gay pride banner and posted it to Twitter, quipping “This is way (sic) I don’t live here!”
A twitter follower commented on the photo stating that if the world was rid of “them” that it would be a better place. Later on, Fuller apparently replied to a later tweet about his post, where he commented “lol…Don’t we all wish!”
Even though, Fuller later admitted that the tweets were between two friends and didn’t comment on his character, officials from Red Bull Racing and Turner Motorsports when made aware, were quick to let the contractor go.
“It was a joke between two friends, and it cost me both of my jobs. I’m not racist and I do not hate gay people. It wasn’t intended to be what (it appeared) . . . I didn’t write anything about getting rid of them or ‘ha ha,’ or ‘laughing out loud,’ ” he told Fox Sports News.
However, Fuller did reply “LOL” to someone in his Twitter feed, unfortunately by the time this story broke – the offending tweets had been deleted.
“I don’t have any negative thoughts about gay people,” Fuller continued. “I got rid of everything because I did not want it to go this far . . . I’ve got gay friends. It was like, ‘Hey, look, this (banner) is something you don’t (typically) see. It’s like, ‘Wow, let’s post this.’ “
Although, Fuller is apparently trying to back peddle and shield his dinged reputation, he should have had enough savvy to realize what type of message broadcasting that a gay pride image with an unsavory tweet would read, if the wrong person stumbled across it. Perhaps, he felt that he would be safe, after all – he was a contractor in a sport not necessarily known for standing up for LGBT equality, so he got a “pass.” Especially since, LGBT equality is still a quite touchy subject.
Fuller, of course, is still playing clueless about what he could have done wrong. Instead of apologizing for his bad judgment, he insists that “The only thing I posted was the picture and this was the reason I don’t live here. That is the only thing I’ve done, and I don’t know how it got to be where it’s at now.”
