S. Samuel
Indiana Pacers star Roy Hibbert has come forward to apologize for using one-time popular hip-hop expression "No homo" during a post-game conference Saturday (June 1) night.
Hibbert issued a public statement to apologize to anyone who took offense to the unintentional gay slur.
“I am apologizing for insensitive remarks made during the postgame press conference after our victory over Miami Saturday night,” Hibbert said. “They were disrespectful and offensive and not a reflection of my personal views. I used a slang term that is not appropriate in any setting, private or public, and the language I used definitely has no place in a public forum, especially over live television. I apologize to those who I have offended, to our fans and to the Pacers’ organization. I sincerely have deep regret over my choice of words last night.” (Statement)
A detailed account of what exactly went down in his post-game interview has surfaced.
In Saturday’s postgame news conference, Hibbert uttered a homophobic slur and dropped an expletive directed at reporters. When asked about his help defense for teammate Paul George on Heat forward LeBron James, Hibbert said, “I really felt that I let Paul down in terms of having his back (in Game 3) when LeBron was scoring in the post or getting to the paint, because they stretched me out so much, no homo.” For whatever reason, Hibbert felt it necessary to add that unnecessary comment, which he followed with a chuckle. Hibbert, who generally has provided entertaining answers to questions during this series, later in the news conference called reporters “mother (expletive)” because they voted him 10th for defensive player of the year. (USA Today)
It may take Hibbert some time to forget his costly mistake as the NBA has fined him $75,000 for the remark.
The NBA has fined Roy Hibbert $75,000 after the Indiana Pacers center used a gay slur in one answer and a profanity in another during his news conference Saturday following Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. Hibbert ended a response to a question about his defense on Miami Heat star LeBron James with “no homo.” (ESPN)
Back in 2011, Maybach Music Group leader Rick Ross spoke on the short-lived run of the “no homo” expression.
“I’ve been on Twitter before, and somebody will say something to me with “no homo” at the end. And I’m like, Why the f*ck would you even need to say that? … I don’t use it. There’s no reason. I mean you Tweet me, I hope you’re no homo. They’ll be like, ‘Yo man, let me get your blunt, no homo.’ That’s why I don’t smoke with nobody.” (Complex)
Over the past few years, the expression has been used by rappers like Kanye West and Cam’ron.
West amended his position somewhat on “Run This Town,” a new Jay-Z single on which the Chicago rapper is a featured guest. “It’s crazy how you can go from being Joe Blow,” West begins his rap, “to everybody on your d*ck–no homo.” No homo, to those unfamiliar with the term, is a phrase added to statements in order to rid them of possible homosexual double-entendre. (“You’ve got beautiful balls,” you tell your friend at the bocce game–“no homo.”) No homo began life as East Harlem slang in the early ’90s, and in the early aughts it entered the hip-hop lexicon via the Harlem rapper Cam’ron and his Diplomats crew. Lil Wayne brought the term into the mainstream, sprinkling “no homo” caveats across cameos, mix tapes, and his Tha Carter III LP, which was 2008’s best-selling album. (Slate)
Around the mid-2000’s, Cam’ron addressed the hype over the offensive expression.
“With me, like, ‘No homo’ is just basically installed in my vocabulary,” Cam said in a 2007 interview. “Even if I’m in a meeting, I’ll be with my lawyer and might say something and be like, ‘No homo.’ And my lawyer will look up and I’ll be like, I know you have no idea what I’m talking about but I need to say that because I said something real homo, no homo.” (Hot 97)
