During an appearance on iHeartRadio's
Domenick Nati Show, Adam Rippon talked about the backlash he
received as an open gay athlete competing at the Winter Olympics in
PyeongChang, South Korea.
The 28-year-old Rippon was one of two
openly gay men on Team USA competing at the Winter Olympics. The
other athlete was skier Gus Kenworthy, 26.
Rippon and Kenworthy criticized the
White House's selection of Vice President Mike Pence – an opponent
of LGBT rights, including marriage equality – to lead the 2018 U.S.
Olympic delegation. Rippon, who won a bronze medal at the games,
also has previously said that he would not visit the White House if
invited as an Olympian because he believes he would not be “welcome”
as a gay athlete.
“How bad was the backlash you
received from being an openly gay Olympic athlete, and did you ever
receive any death threats?” Nati asked.
“I mean, yeah, I did,” Rippon
responded. “I received all sorts of threats. I received all
sorts of negative comments and emails.”
The figure skater added that the
backlash “didn't matter.”
“You know 99 percent of the things
that people send you that are negative, you'll never see those people
and they don't matter,” he said.
“They have a lot of time and I'm
going to tell you, I wish I had that much time to waste, but I
don't,” he added.