Joe Rogan went on the MMA message board the Underground last night and called MMA writer Tomas Rios a “faggot.” Obviously, you should not say this type of thing. Especially in public and especially when you’re famous. This is one of those words that we are not supposed to utter in polite society. Anyway, this caused Bloody Elbow’s Jonathon Snowden to write a long post about how Rogan went on a “homophobic rant” – since retitled “homophobic slur.“

Luckily, BE’s own Luke Thomas had a much more level-headed take on the situation, so my mentioning the overreaction to Rogan’s comment doesn’t make me look like the guy saying its “OK.” However, that doesn’t excuse his use of the word. If a broadcaster from any other sport had said “faggot” somewhere on the internet, every blog – this one included – would be flipping its shit right now. Especially if it were directed towards a web-based journalist. So yeah, I’ve got to at least mention this.

And while Snowden obviously sensationalized the headline – something he’s good at – he also glossed over two key things:

1. Rogan’s use of the word “cunt.” While they may toss that word around with abandon in some countries, really one of the worst things you can say here.

2. Rogan’s “apology” ended with “replace it with ‘cocksucker.’” Is that also not considered a bit of a homophobic term? Its certainly not endearing and I’ve never heard a woman insulted with that word. Why not jump on that as well? Now its a pattern!

Let me end by saying, Joe Rogan is not homophobic. (Luke Thomas spoke to that) Just because someone calls someone else a “faggot,” that doesn’t mean that they’re homophobic. It sounds that way though. Especially removed from context. In this case, Joe Rogan calling someone an asshole. Isn’t that what we expect from Joe Rogan?

[Image via Getty]