An anti-gay tweet has resulted in the
firing of NASCAR crewman Jeremy Fuller.
According
to the Sporting
News, Fuller tweeted a photo of a gay pride banner on a car
at Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Infineon Raceway in San Francisco with
the caption, “This is way [why] I don't live here!”
“if we could get rid of them, it'd be
a lot better,” a follower responded.
“lol... Don't we all wish!” Fuller
messaged without replying to the follower's message.
Fuller, who removed the posts on
Monday, was fired by Red Bull Racing and by Turner Motorsports.
“It was a joke between two friends
and it cost me both of my jobs,” Fuller said. “I'm not a racist
and I do not hate gay people. It wasn't intended to be what [it
appeared]. … I didn't write anything about getting rid of them or
'ha ha' or 'laughing out loud.'”
In a statement, Red Bull said Fuller
was fired because it “strictly enforces our team policies against
any form of discrimination.”
“We have zero tolerance for such
violations and in no way support any of the comments posted by this
individual,” the racing team said.
NASCAR's rule book forbids members from
publicly ridiculing another person based on several favors including
sexual orientation.