On last week’s edition of AEW Dynamite, a fan can be heard yelling a homophobic slur at the Acclaimed’s Anthony Bowens during his match. The Acclaimed teamed with 2.0 in a losing effort to the Varsity Blondes and Jurassic Express on the show.
Bowens recently spoke to TMZ about the incident.
“Unfortunately that kind of stuff comes with the territory, being an out LGBTQ athlete,” Bowens said.
“This is actually the first time that I’ve audibly heard something like that during a performance or during television.”
Bowens also responded to a Tweet featuring a video of the fan yelling the slur.
Bowens continued to say that when he started a YouTube channel with his boyfriend, the comments they received were quite hateful.
“I have really thick skin, I’m kind of used to it from my boyfriend Michael and I,” Bowens said. “We have our YouTube channel and when we first started that the comments were brutal.”
Bowens would continue to say, however, that the comment is not indicative of AEW fans at all.
“This is not indicative of the AEW fans at all,” Bowens said. “Any interactions I’ve had with them since starting the company have all been positive.”
Bowens also spoke about how when he first arrived in AEW, he was happy to see LGTB wrestlers such as Nyla Rose and Sonny Kiss freely being themselves. His full comments are available in the player below:
