Jay Briscoe Makes New Apology For Homophobic Tweets From 2013
"The most dumbest, immature, obnoxious sh*t I have ever done."
Jay Briscoe has once again apologised for the homophobic tweets from 2013 that may have cost him and brother Mark a job in All Elite Wrestling.
Fightful Select recently reported that a "person of influence" within AEW's television partners, WarnerMedia, had effectively blocked Tony Khan from signing the Briscoes, citing the tweets as the reason. This is despite Khan's recent buyout of the Briscoes' long-time home, Ring Of Honor, and the teased dream match pitting Jay and Mark against AEW's FTR.
Appearing on the Battleground podcast, Jay reiterated that he was sorry for the tweets, which he called "the most dumbest, immature, obnoxious sh*t" he has ever done (h/t Fightful):-
"I want to say, thank you to the people who really know...we get labeled as homophobes. I put out a stupid tweet nine years ago, the most dumbest, immature, obnoxious s**t I've ever done. I don't want anybody, from any walk of life, to feel like they can't care for the Briscoes because I promise we love everybody. We love everybody and we just want to go out there and be pro wrestlers and give the best match that we can. I said some dumb s**t a long time ago, I apologized for it and I'll apologize for it again. It was stupid. I feel like now there are people who look at us like, 'we can't cheer for them because they hate a certain group of people.' We don't hate nobody. We love everybody. We're just some country boys. I thought I was taking a stand for the Lord back in the day."
Jay's Twitter history includes using a homophobic slur in 2011, as well as speaking out against same-sex marriage two years later.
Ultimately, whether or not his latest apology is sufficient should be determined by those who could conceivably have been hurt by his words. The former ROH World Champion at least took ownership of his actions, though, rather than going for the cop-out "I'm sorry you were offended" approach public figures often take in situations like this.
The Briscoes are currently advertised a match against mystery opposition at ROH's Supercard of Honor 2022 show on 1 April. Whether or not this will be against FTR remains to be seen. The two teams had previously taken part in a red-hot angle at Final Battle 2021 in December, building immense hype for the inter-promotional match.
For now, if that match is going to happen, it won't be on AEW television.