michael cole calls josh matthews a faggot

Michael Cole said the following on Twitter to Josh Matthews on Saturday afternoon:

"@wwejoshmatthews fa**ot"

After a negative response from fans, Cole responded with the following:

"I apologize to any and all who were offended by my tweet toward young Josh Mathews. It was obviously not meant the way it was taken. I was not ordered to apologize I said I am sorry because I am. Now can I get back to being a character again please?"



later on today this happened


Thanks to TMZ.com for the follow quote from a WWE rep:

"WWE has alerted GLAAD to the situation and spoken to Michael Cole about his post. He has removed it and apologized for using hateful language. Michael will be included in the training session being done by GLAAD. WWE takes this very seriously and is against discrimination of any kind based on sexual orientation, gender, race, religion or other."



he is on twitter to enhance his character not make hateful jibes. jackass

I just tweeted him...

@MichaelCole At least you didn't wish someones whole family would die @JeremyBorash

more on it:

As noted earlier here on the website, Michael Cole is in some deep Poopie as it pertains to his homophobic tweet earlier today. In the "corporate reality world", almost nobody apologizes for things like this unless there is major pressure to do so from the higher-ups. That was indeed the case today as Cole was notified by WWE management to remove the tweet ASAP and issue an apology. WWE isn't happy about it. Also, WWE and GLAAD were just in a major spat over remarks made in several recent John Cena interviews as well as a segment on RAW where he addressed The Rock. WWE pretty much promised them that nothing like this would happen again and now we've got the incident today. Trust me when I tell you this is going to be made into a big deal in the media. Ask Dana White what happened several months ago when he did the same thing. It's not good news for WWE.

typical American media. Pounce on something taken out of context, tar and feather it to suit their existing objections and prejudices towards something. In this case the context being that the Michael Cole on twitter is a fictional character, paid to be a heel - a bad guy, and to say stupid and distasteful things.

If people want sugar coated entertainment - why even have the fighting in wrestling. Why not just make it people having childish arguments?

I find it laughable that TMZ, and the American media, think that a fictional character saying a stupid thing to get a rise out of people is unacceptable, yet simultaneously believe its perfectly acceptable to publish pictures of Britney Spears' vagina taken by a scummy man lying on the floor with a camera or to twist and distort world events to justify pre-existing foreign policy.

Come off it. You want purity - read the bible. Don't watch a programme who's whole existence is based upon the simulation of violence.

PC gone mad, is there anyone left who doesnt do mock disgust?

Faggots are a traditional dish in the UK, especially South and Mid Wales and the Midlands of England.

What are we talking about again?

To be honest I think Cole made the situation worse by writing "if I offended anyone," as it is simply a non-apology . It essentially means 'I'm sorry that I got caught, but if I hadn't been caught I wouldn't care to be sorry.' WWE has given Cole a lot of leeway with his heel announcer character, but Cole didn't handle it well here at all, especially asking if he could "get back into character" after his comment.

Who cares though? The PC brigade just need something to be offended about, one load of pish

Reading on wrestlezone.com this morning that there's major heat on Michael Cole, some people are going so far as to say that Cole's push has gone to his head and that if he weren't a major part of the build-up to Wrestlemania that he'd be fired by Vince McMahon or Kevin Dunn.

Take that with a pinch of salt of course.

It's only because of the recent GLAAD stuff that he's getting so much heat.

Rightly so from up top but i don't personally see the need for moral outrage from all over the world. I've called my boss worse.

Perhaps he was referring to Josh Matthews as the delcious meatball variant often ate in the North of England with gravy?

But do you tweet it KB!?

Holymiky wrote:But do you tweet it KB!?

I tweet worse. I also have some frankly questionable facebook statuses.

I can only imagine!

By the way - is Josh Matthews gay?

Or is it just outrage of the use of a gay reference bit of namecalling? In the same way that Michael Hayes got done for using the "N" word (I want to solve the clue)

I don't think he is gay, Its just the online paragons of virtue that don't have anything better to do with there time than to fake some outrage to get their names in the news

What actually sparked this off, like what made Cole call him that in the first place?

Do you need a reason? Me and my mates give each other severe pelters over nothing all the time, banter

the-gaffer wrote:Do you need a reason? Me and my mates give each other severe pelters over nothing all the time, banter

Really???

So your comparing the banter comments that we all have with our mates or work colleagues with someone who is on tv every week tweeting a homophobic comment ment in a derogatory nature where thousands of young impressionable kids will see it.

gaffer, you are coming across as a complete idiot in this discussion, I have to say.

If you'd get down from your Talksport, Jeremy Clarkson, Daily Star, PC gone mad high horse you would realise that this is a really inappropriate insult to use in a public forum given WWE's target audience. It may be banter but banter should be kept between friends, not shared with hundreds of thousands of strangers, especially when Cole is representing a huge corporation which only the other day spoke about its desires to work with GLAAD in eliminating homophobia from its product.

If Cole had tweeted "@wwebookert Person of African descent" he would have quite rightly been sacked.

He's lucky to still have a job. For me, his faux apology made it even worse.

WWE hardly is a poster boy for gays is it?

They binned Kris Canyon for being gay (okay they used another excuse but I am sure it had a lot to do with it), they made a mockery of Billy and Chuck.

They are obviously trying to get there image better but it all depends whether the context of the jibe.

If Josh is indeed gay, then it is not a very clever thing to do.
If he isnt, then the insult is crass but shouldnt be seen as any worse than any other insult (imo).
Finally - how do we know that he wasnt playing to the heel persona?

All in all, not very clever, but it does seem like they are blowing it out of proportions. Its not nice and inapropriate but isnt that what heels do?

Hobo, if he was in character, that surely reflects on WWE even worse?

If he wasn't in character, it was a stupid thing to do. I'm not personally offended by it but I think it was absolutely stupid of him (as was the non-apology) given the recent issues with GLAAD.

Either way, he's using the accusation of homosexuality as an insult. I understand people do that all the time and often it is just banter, but to do it in public with a large impressionable audience, days after your employer has entered into partnership with GLAAD, is utterly foolish whether in character or not.

Guys, ironically enough on a article about name-calling can I then interrupt you all to ask you to refrain from name-calling.

The topic of what is acceptable PC wise is one that people have extremely strong beliefs on. Don't though let it degenerate into personal attacks.

Thank you.

Davieswasacrippledtart wrote:Hobo, if he was in character, that surely reflects on WWE even worse?

If he wasn't in character, it was a stupid thing to do. I'm not personally offended by it but I think it was absolutely stupid of him (as was the non-apology) given the recent issues with GLAAD.

Either way, he's using the accusation of homosexuality as an insult. I understand people do that all the time and often it is just banter, but to do it in public with a large impressionable audience, days after your employer has entered into partnership with GLAAD, is utterly foolish whether in character or not.

Absolutely.

But it wouldnt surprise me if Vince was behind it in some way - controversy creates cash. TNA have the clean cut, anti drug on their backs - vince is going for the pink $!

What ever the reason behind it, it was incredibly stupid, ill judged by Cole and/nor WWE.

I do personally believe that Vince is behind it.

I for one think its unacceptable - even if he is a pantomime villain.

The world has gone mad.

My opinion is that he's not been told to do it, he's just done it without thinking.

The apology and excuses just make it sound like he doesn't see the problem.

I don't blame WWE for Cole's actions but I do think they should deal with him firmly.

The Dashing One wrote:The world has gone mad.

Another predictable neanderthal response.

People like you are a cliche.

Davieswasacrippledtart wrote:gaffer, you are coming across as a complete idiot in this discussion, I have to say.

If you'd get down from your Talksport, Jeremy Clarkson, Daily Star, PC gone mad high horse you would realise that this is a really inappropriate insult to use in a public forum given WWE's target audience. It may be banter but banter should be kept between friends, not shared with hundreds of thousands of strangers, especially when Cole is representing a huge corporation which only the other day spoke about its desires to work with GLAAD in eliminating homophobia from its product.

If Cole had tweeted "@wwebookert Person of African descent" he would have quite rightly been sacked.

He's lucky to still have a job. For me, his faux apology made it even worse.

No - gaffer isn't actually. This isn't a PC gone mad debate. Its a debate over a person's ability to separate fact from fiction. Gaffer like myself is calling into question either people's stupidity at taking offence over something said by a fictional character who is portrayed as a "bad guy", or otherwise people's ulterior motive for starting an outrage over something so minor.

If you remove all insults from wrestling, an acted, entertainment product, then you have to remove any use of an insulting word from TV programmes and film too.

I think WWE are in a sticky position as obviously they are priming Cole for the role that McMahon himself had for a long time of chief villain.
Like mentioned WWE themselves are not whiter than white.
Every single ‘ism’ they’ve fallen foul of numerous times, often gimmicks for wrestlers are nothing more than stereotypes of a race or preference. I do though agree that with the intentional shift towards a younger target group that these need to be held in check a lot tighter.
Kids are impressionable, having two myself is testament to it, if what they regard as their role models make comments like that, then it then becomes acceptable for them to.
Though in the same respect in watching a wrestling show it surely shows that any disagreement can only be resolved by battering the other.

Electric Demon wrote:

Davieswasacrippledtart wrote:gaffer, you are coming across as a complete idiot in this discussion, I have to say.

If you'd get down from your Talksport, Jeremy Clarkson, Daily Star, PC gone mad high horse you would realise that this is a really inappropriate insult to use in a public forum given WWE's target audience. It may be banter but banter should be kept between friends, not shared with hundreds of thousands of strangers, especially when Cole is representing a huge corporation which only the other day spoke about its desires to work with GLAAD in eliminating homophobia from its product.

If Cole had tweeted "@wwebookert Person of African descent" he would have quite rightly been sacked.

He's lucky to still have a job. For me, his faux apology made it even worse.

No - gaffer isn't actually. This isn't a PC gone mad debate. Its a debate over a person's ability to separate fact from fiction. Gaffer like myself is calling into question either people's stupidity at taking offence over something said by a fictional character who is portrayed as a "bad guy", or otherwise people's ulterior motive for starting an outrage over something so minor.

If you remove all insults from wrestling, an acted, entertainment product, then you have to remove any use of an insulting word from TV programmes and film too.

although I agree with your sentiments, people will argue its different as Nick Cotton doesnt tweet.

The thing is, we dont know what has driven Cole to do this:

Is it a personal, non character thought out statement
Is it a "in character" comment
Was he told to say it?
Did he mean it as an insult as opposed to a questioning of sexuality?

It does (for me at least) to have been jumped on by the media, and taken out of proportion. He has said something idiotic (possibly depending on my scenarios above), there are a lot worse things going on in the WWE/ TNA that are not picket up.

The kids market who watch wrestling however, are never influenced by heels. Every single one of them has a John Cena t-shirt on in the crowd. I didn't start enjoying and appreciating heels until I was old enough to ackowledge that what was happening, wasn't real.

To kids, wrestling is the ultimate battle of good vs bad - and at Wrestlemania those kids will see Michael Cole get Stone Cold Stunnered for the things he's been saying.

A modern day fairy-tale if you like. Setting an altogether good example to children, not a bad one.

Davieswasacrippledtart wrote:gaffer, you are coming across as a complete idiot in this discussion, I have to say.

and you're coming across as the usual do gooder paragon of virtue tory sun reader you have become lately

good point Demon.

Lets just hope they pull a swerve and really rile up GLAAD by having Billy and Chuck work over Jerry Lawler bringing in the new XXX Attitude era!

Neanderthal? Why? Because i'm not dressing up in my white fluffy costume, painting my legs,arms and face black and bleeting on like the majority of sheep?

Society wishes us to follow a path, a path you have walked along and if anyone disagrees you call them names. In your eyes I may be a neanderthal but i'm not the one calling people names am I?

If I/me/myself/NOT YOU find this comment fine - well that's my perogative. If you find it outrageous then fair enough but please don't attack someone for this as it makes you just as bad as the person you are complaining about.

I don't find Michael Coles comment at all funny but at the same time it is nothing to be fair. Like another poster has said it's all in jest and is just to keep up his "bad guy" character. I very much doubt that gay people were offended by this.

And also I very much doubt that any kids follow Michael Cole on Twitter. Kids despise him and if they did consider Michael Cole a role model then I think they have more problems then being exposed to the word "faggott"!

Why bother explaining yoursele to him? Anyone he doern't agree with will be bored to death with his self righteous views, there is only one porter on here on a soapbox high horse and its him

Am I the only one that found it amusing?....

maybe Josh Matthews is a faggott

Maybe he was talking about the meatball type food?

the-gaffer wrote:Why bother explaining yoursele to him? Anyone he doern't agree with will be bored to death with his self righteous views, there is only one porter on here on a soapbox high horse and its him

Exactly. I thought a message board was to share opinions and debate? Crippled should remember that.

Gaffer and Dashing One, I do think your responses were both typical of a certain section of society which gets very predictable whenever there is a story about prejudice and discrimination, resorting to the tired "the world's gone mad", "PC brigade" and so on. It seems to me a standard response which is defensive and beyond any reason.

I'm sure you probably think exactly the same about the so-called PC brigade, and consider me typical of that.

However I am sorry if you thought that I got too personal. Oh, and I am definitely not a Sun-reading Tory! (Not sure how that description possibly fits my side of the argument; I'd suggest that a Sun-reading Tory would react to the story the same way you have).

If you think my posts are self-righteous, that is your problem. I am passionate about my opinions and passionate about opinions which I disagree with. This is a forum for debate; I am entitled, as you are, to share my views and in sharing my views in public I leave them open to criticism from others. Part of sharing your views publicly is that, whoever you are, some people will tell you that you are wrong. But if you think I'm wrong I want to hear why.

Back to the subject, the problem is that, regardless of our views, Michael Cole is representing a company that just last week announced a partnership with GLAAD in which it vowed to eradicate homophobia from its product. Michael Cole represents WWE. If he was in character, then he was portraying a WWE character. There was nothing in the PR about WWE's relationship with GLAAD that said "we will eradicate homophobia from our product unless it comes from a heel". Therefore, regardless of our personal feelings, the company cannot be seen to not punish Cole for what he did. Even if you personally see no problem with homophobia, the WWE has just announced a press release saying it does not endorse it and will work to avoid it. Therefore we are talking about WWE's own policy here, and whether they will enforce it or be hypocritical.

The problem with allowing heels to use homophobic taunts is that, to make them work as part of a gay-friendly product, WWE would need to have its babyfaces stress that there is nothing wrong with being gay. It is also questionable whether beating up someone who called you gay is a sensitive way to deal with the matter! I think they'd be far better advised to avoid any mention of homosexuality in their TV product. And I think that, as long as the company claims to be gay-friendly, they have to punish homophobic actions from their employees, whether in character or not, to maintain any credibility (some may argue they have no credibility in the first place, but that is not the point here).

The alternative for WWE is to cut its ties with GLAAD, be as homophobic as they want and risk losing tens of millions of dollars in endorsements. They can't have it both ways.

Peace and love guys, peace and love

good response Crips.

I do find it odd that in the same week that the deal was announced, that Cole tweeted what he did.

I really dont see the problem within the pro wrestling context though - as Hero said, its a larger than life scenario. For years they have gone for cheap heat with racist stereotyping - JBL with the mexicans, Mohammed Hussan with his terrorists etc.

Its a cheap heel tactic. I dont like it but its always been there. If twitter had been around 10 years ago, I am sure JBL would have used it to further his character. Does it diminish my likings for a scripted character - no.

I abhor all exclusions or "isms" if you will. But this is a television show and I am sure that this has been done to promote the WWE's tie up with GLAAD and to as you quite rightly said, see Cole get a bashing for being homophobic.

Distasteful but that s pro wrestling for ya.

I think that the comments that Cena used against the Rock have a far more detrimental effect to the WWE product than what Cole said. As mentioned Cole isn’t regarded as a hero to the kids simply through being a heel persona, Cena though is a hero, he’s fan-worshiped by the kids and his comments will be taken to the playground.

Its only a forum for opinions if they conform with your stance on all things and if they don't the paragon of virtue that you are result to name callin and the hilarious thing is you don't get the irony in calling someone a name while vilifying them for not sharing your mock outrage at someone calling someone a name

I agree totally Hero, it was a far worse context in Cena's case.

Gaffer, you're embarrassing yourself now. I've moved on. I hope you can too.

I do agree with a portion of what you say crippled (especialy the part about joning GLAAD and therefore they should not promote anything that contradicts this). But the main point I have to highlight is, is that it was Michael Cole. I don't think any one under an age to be influenced will check on Michael Coles twitter account. I fear that by highlighting this "problem" then the audience they wish to keep this from will be more easily exposed to it. If the comment was made by Cena for example then yes there would be a big problem but it wasn't it was made by a weasel.

On a lighter note - Josh Matthews isn't gay - infact he was married and was took to the cleaners by a former womens wrestler!

I think you're right Dashing One, it puts WWE in a compromising position; if they go public about punishing Cole, they bring attention to it. If they don't, it looks like they're not punishing him.

I believe that, purely given the WWE/GLAAD alliance, it should be off-limits for anyone, face or heel, to use homophobic language, regardless of who, if anyone, is offended by it. It's just unnecessary and opens up a potential can of worms (I can guarantee Mattel and Kmart would not be at all pleased if they find out about Cole's comments, however innocent).

Davieswasacrippledtart wrote:I think you're right Dashing One, it puts WWE in a compromising position; if they go public about punishing Cole, they bring attention to it. If they don't, it looks like they're not punishing him.

I believe that, purely given the WWE/GLAAD alliance, it should be off-limits for anyone, face or heel, to use homophobic language, regardless of who, if anyone, is offended by it. It's just unnecessary and opens up a potential can of worms (I can guarantee Mattel and Kmart would not be at all pleased if they find out about Cole's comments, however innocent).

Thats the plan - the Boogeyman will interfere in the match!

Gaffer, you're embarrassing yourself now. I've moved on. I hope you can too.

Aye no bnther Stallin there is only one embarrassment on here and its your mock outrage, they should prescribe you for isomniac's

Gaffer/Crips I've pm'd you both.