Gay Times has suspended its newly-appointed editor after a series of offensive tweets were unearthed that saw him make derogatory comments about Jewish people, lesbians and women in general among many other targets.
Buzzfeed News UK exposed the comments made Josh Rivers earlier on Wednesday, and the magazine swiftly announced he had been suspended less than a month after getting the job.
The magazine said Rivers’ past tweets “do not align with the values of Gay Times, or any of our employees, in any capacity”.
His tweets, made between 2010 and 2011, and some of which have been deleted, included:
On Jewish people:
“I wonder if they cast that guy as ‘The Jew’ because of that fucking ridiculously larger honker of a nose. It must be prosthetic. Must be.”
On transgender people:
“Look here, tranny. 1) you look like a crackhead 2) YOU’RE A TRANNY & 3) your wig doesn’t deserve a mention.”
On Africa:
On a lesbian neighbour:
“I hope that piece of machinery that asshole lesbian next door has been using since 8am cuts off her goddamn hand.”
On a ‘chav’:
“Was so close to casually asking this chav to keep her incested, down syndrome, retard children quiet. But I just switched carriages. #xmas.”
On overweight people:
“Argh, fat old people, bane of my life.” In a further post he attacks someone for being a “fat c***”
Body-shaming:
“People-watching in Soho is amaze. You’ll never see a more confident bunch of ugly people.”
Rivers said: “To every single person who is hurt, offended and disappointed: I’m sorry. The tweets are horrible. They are abhorrent. They are ugly. They are so hateful.
“These tweets from my past show a deep self-loathing that I’ve worked hard to overcome.
“I have long taken steps to address the issues that prevented me from treating people with the respect and kindness I value so dearly now.
“It is because of my past and my own awakening that I’ve since pivoted everything in my life towards supporting and empowering our community. It is upsetting that the damage I caused before has now resurfaced to cause more pain.
“I hope we can use this as an opportunity for growth, for healing, for moving forward. As evidenced by my own example, there is so much work to do.”