University of West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins used a homophobic slur on live radio twice.
Huggins appeared on the The Bill Cunningham Show on Cincinnati’s Newsradio 700 WLW. In the interview they discussed Cincinnati’s rivalry with Xavier.
Huggins said:
"Any school that can throw rubber penises on the floor and then say they didn’t do it, my God, they can get away with anything.”
Cunningham mentioned it was transgender night.
“I think it was transgender night, wasn’t it?”
That's when Huggins used the slur.
“What it was, was all those [homophobic slur]s, those Catholic [homophobic slur]s, I think.”
You can hear the audio here:
\u201c\u26a0\ufe0f Here\u2019s the audio of Bob Huggins calling Xavier fans \u201cCatholic f--s\u201d during an appearance on Bill Cunningham\u2019s WLW radio show in Cincinnati\u201d— Awful Announcing (@Awful Announcing) 1683577696
Huggins later apologized for using the slur.
In a written statement he said:
“I used a completely insensitive and abhorrent phrase that there is simply no excuse for―and I won’t try to make one here."
"I deeply apologize to the individuals I have offended, as well as to the Xavier University community, the University of Cincinnati and West Virginia University."
He added:
"As I have shared with my players over my 40 years of coaching, there are consequences for our words and actions, and I will fully accept [anything] coming my way."
"I am ashamed and embarrassed and heartbroken for those I have hurt.”
\u201chttps://t.co/NzTCJKkqFI\u201d— Bob Huggins (@Bob Huggins) 1683581218
Many people shared their reactions on social media.
\u201c@CoachHuggs You are correct, that was insensitive and abhorrent. There is no excuse. People may choose to accept your apology as heartfelt. WVU should not. You should be dismissed with cause.\u201d— Bob Huggins (@Bob Huggins) 1683581218
\u201c@CoachHuggs They got Chat GPT running Bob\u2019s Twitter. Thuggins is obviously still passed out behind the wheel somewhere after his afternoon bender, completely oblivious to any of this commotion. Will need briefed in the morning on his statement.\u201d— Bob Huggins (@Bob Huggins) 1683581218
\u201c@CoachHuggs @CardChronicle He said it so casually that you KNOW he says it all the time and drops a statement and all will be ok lol.\u201d— Bob Huggins (@Bob Huggins) 1683581218
\u201c@CoachHuggs Disappointed \ud83d\ude14\u201d— Bob Huggins (@Bob Huggins) 1683581218
\u201c@CoachHuggs Enjoy your retirement!\u201d— Bob Huggins (@Bob Huggins) 1683581218
\u201c@CoachHuggs Anyone else put the apology into @ZeroGpt ??\n\nDo better, Coach \ud83d\ude33\u201d— Bob Huggins (@Bob Huggins) 1683581218
\u201c@CoachHuggs Bro used ChatGPT\u201d— Bob Huggins (@Bob Huggins) 1683581218
The university stated they were looking into the situation.