Anthony Bowens opens up about the slur yelled at him at an AEW event.
The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) were in action on the most recent edition of AEW Dynamite from UBS Arena. As the duo were on the outside of the ring, an individual in attendance yelled out a homophobic slur that was directed at Bowens.
Audio of the comment was picked up during the television broadcast. Bowens spoke to TMZ Sports about the incident and said at times, it comes with the territory of being an LGBTQ+ athlete. Bowens said he has thick skin but there are certain comments that cut deep.
Unfortunately, that kind of stuff comes with the territory, being out, an LGBTQ athlete. This is actually the first time I’ve audibly heard something during a performance or during television. It’s not indicative of the AEW fans at all because any interactions that I’ve had with them since starting the company has all been positive so that’s the first time that’s actually happened in that sense. I have really thick skin. I’m kind of used to it from like my boyfriend Michael and I, we have our YouTube channel ‘Michael & Anthony’ and when we first started that, woof, the comments were brutal. I can’t even repeat ‘em. So we’re kind of just used to that, but there’s always kind of one person that kind of just oversteps the line and this time it was picked up on camera and I’m kind of glad it was because it just amplifies the message that we still have work to do but it also shows that there’s so much positivity out there like you said, from the response so that was really awesome to see.
Bowens was asked what he would say to the individual if he knew who said it. He would use it as a teachable moment opposed to firing back with negativity.
I’m not kind of the reactive type. I’m the type of person that likes to have a conversation and honestly, if I did meet him, I’d sit him down and listen to him and I hope he would listen to me and hope that we can find some common ground or at least educate him to why that was wrong to do and I hope the person grows. I think just kind of beating down other people and throwing back the negativity that they’re giving to you, it’s an opportunity to educate and help the person become a better human being.
Caster and Bowens are currently 21-5 on the year and are third in the rankings for a shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championships.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit TMZ Sports with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
