Due to his homophobic remarks on a Philippine television interview, six-weight boxing world champion Manny Pacquiao lost the backing of Nike, according to a report by Hypebeast.com.
The 37-year-old politician, who is currently running for a seat in the Philippine senate, called the members of the LGBT community "worse than animals" when asked about his opinion regarding same-sex marriage.
"It's common sense," he stated. "Will you see any animals where male is to male and female is to female? The animals are better, then. They know how to distinguish male from female. If we approve male-to-male and female-to-female pairings then man is worse than animals."
"We find Manny Pacquiao's comments abhorrent," the company said in a statement. "Nike strongly opposes discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting and standing up for the rights of the LGBT community. We no longer have a relationship with Manny Pacquiao."
He recently apologized for his harsh words, but remained firm with his beliefs that the sexual intercourse between two members of the same sex is immoral and has been endlessly quoting Bible verses. In a tweet he posted along with a video, the world champ said he was sorry for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals. "Please forgive me for those I've hurt. God Bless!" he added.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Philipine TV and radio personality Karen Davila, Pacquiao cites God and bible verses to defend himself from her questions. Davila explained that same-sex marriage does not necessarily mean that the church will unite the LGBT couple but a union by law recognized by the government to protect their rights, to which he responded how marriage is sacred and it would be an insult to God if the same sex will be wedded.
When Davila asked Pacquiao whether he thinks all members of LGBT will go to hell, he replied with "No, not all." He then quoted Leviticus, which is about atonement and holiness.
Do you think Manny Pacquiao will lose more endorsements because of the predicament he got himself in? Sound off below!
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