Kobe Bryant Says He Used To Beat Up Kids Who Teased His Gay Friends

ESPN’s Lisa Salters spoke to Kobe Bryant about his "fag" slur from last week. Bryant insisted that he's not anti-gay and claims that he used to beat up kids in high school who would tease his gay friends. Or so he told Salters:

"Even though I didn't mean it that way, I've since learned what that word still means to a lot of people. I went on-line myself and I did my own research and I saw and I read about kids who were committing suicide because of being teased for who they are. I don't play that. I used to beat up a lot of kids even in high school who used to tease my friends because they were gay, or because they were black, or because they were Jewish, or because they were yellow, or because they were whatever. For people who don't think my apology is sincere, they don't know me. This isn't over for me. I really plan to do more. What I said was ignorant and I really didn't realize what I was saying. Now that I do and realize how it affects people I really plan to do more and to help with the awareness."