Gay Times fires ‘Jews are gross’ editor who sent vile tweets
The new editor of Gay Times has been fired after tweeting offensive remarks.
Josh Rivers posted slurs about transgender people, lesbians, women in general, Jews, Asians, Africans, the homeless, disabled people, anyone he thought was “fat” or a “retard” – and old people.
He lasted just three weeks in the role as editor.
PinkNews has also learned that Rivers has resigned from his position as co-chair at Series Q, a community group built to help LGBT entrepreneurs.
Barry Whyte, who co-founded the group, told PinkNews: “In order not to be a distraction to the ongoing work of the Series Q team, Josh Rivers has stepped down from his role as co-chair.
“Our board are all volunteers and we share a deep sense of pride in the diversity of our membership. We also share a commitment to being inclusive of all people within the LGBT+ community, a commitment we reaffirm today.”
In one particularly horrific tweet, Rivers wrote: “Look here, tranny. 1) you look like a crackhead 2) YOU’RE A TRANNY & 3) your wig doesn’t deserve a mention”.
Gay Times posted a statement on Twitter this morning saying he had been sacked from the position with immediate effect.
The statement read: “After an investigation of the facts surrounding historical tweets by Josh Rivers, the newly appointed Editor of Gay Times magazine; we announce that his employment has been terminated with immediate effect.
https://twitter.com/GayTimesMag/status/931107214911209472
“We sincerely apologise for the offence that has been caused, particularly to those members of our wider community to whom such inappropriate and unacceptable commentary was the focus.
“Gay Times does not tolerate such views and will continue to strive to honour and promote inclusivity.
“Gay Times magazine will relaunch on 30 November, with what is quite possibly the most significant overhaul in its 33-year history.
“All articles written by Josh Rivers have been removed, and the new-look magazine will feature submissions and significant contributions from the far reaches of our wonderful and diverse LGBTQ community.”
The 31-year-old sent this steady stream of offensive tweets – dozens in all – in 2010 and 2011, when he was in his mid-20s, BuzzFeed reported today.
Gay Times Magazine suspended Rivers less than three hours after his posts came to light, yesterday, saying that the tweets “do not align with the values of Gay Times, or any of our employees, in any capacity.”
Rivers began deleting the posts yesterday afternoon.
He was given the top job at Gay Times last month. An edition of the magazine has not been released since his appointment.
The new face of the LGBT publication assumed the position having tweeted derogatory comments about lesbians.
“I hope that piece of machinery that asshole lesbian next door has been using since 8am cuts off her goddamn hand,” he wrote.
Gay Times readers may worry about Rivers’ coverage of lesbian issues, particularly as the new editor has tweeted: “So was getting geared up to watch Lip Service.
“Turns out it’s about lesbian dramas. DELETE.”
On a separate occasion two months later, he wrote: “Fast forwarding through the lesbian bits though.”
Rivers has also voiced misogynist views, in a tweet which read: “More F***ing c***ing whiney c***s. C***ing whiney f***ing c***s.
“Go change your f***ing tampon & stay the f*** out of my way.”
In another tweet, he wrote that a girl in a tight top “should be killed” if she wasn’t pregnant.
And as well as referring to a transgender person as a “tranny,” he has also used the alternative spelling “trannie”.
“Dizzy trannie! Tricks are for kids!” he said, seemingly referencing an American cereal advert in which children tell a cartoon rabbit: “Silly rabbit! Trix are for kids!”
This Saturday, the publication is set to put on an awards show hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon, who describes herself as “Seattle’s premier narcoleptic Jewish drag queen”.
It is not known what Jinkx thinks of Rivers’ tweets about Jewish people, which are explicitly offensive.
“Jews are gross. It’s the only religion with ‘ew’ in it,” he has said.
Weeks later, he wrote: “I wonder if they cast that guy as ‘The Jew’ because of that f***ing ridiculously large honker of a nose.
“It must be prosthetic. Must be.”
His tweets have covered a span of races, with one seeing Rivers saying: “The creepiest gay men are short, old asian men with long nails.
“Fact.”
In another, he wrote: “Long day. How would I type that with a Chinese accent?
“Wong way?”
According to BuzzFeed, he also said that there were two Chinese people sat next to him at the 2012 Olympics who were “sneaky f***s”.
This, he explained, was because he didn’t see that they were there while he “screamed ‘we just shat all over china’.”
He also targeted African people – and Egyptians specifically – in vile posts.
In quick succession, he first posted: “So the Egyptian men celebrate by raping women? Cool. Freedom rings for fat, smelly, hairy, c***-face, backwards rapists. YAY!”
Then, minutes later, he wrote: “SO exhausted! Raping in celebration of our freedom! HAAALLAAALALALAALAAA ALLAAAH!!” – tweet from an Egyptian guy.
Months before that, he tweeted: “Waitress from next door just got back from Africa & told me I should go soon.
“Do I look like I’m trying to get killed? Jog on, honey.”
He has also displayed hatred for overweight people, telling his followers that “obese people wind me up. There should be a fat lane”.
“Argh, fat old people, bane of my life,” another tweet said, while in a further post, he attacks someone for being a “fat c***”.
People who fall short of his beauty standards have also been attacked, with Rivers writing: “People-watching in Soho is amaze. You’ll never see a more confident bunch of ugly people”.
And homeless people have also fallen in his range of fire, in a post which said: “I’m thankful for TFL [Transport for London] & rising bus fares.
“Let’s keep homeless people on the streets & off our buses!”
When confronted with these tweets by BuzzFeed, Rivers reportedly said: “Wow.
“This is really hard to hear,” he added, despite having posted dozens of tweets like these.
“I’m kind of stunned…I think it shows an immaturity, a certain amount of self-loathing.
“I think it shows that before recently I hadn’t been aware of the effects that social media and using platforms in such a nasty and pernicious way had.”
He added that “it shows I have grown.”
Rivers also said called the fact that he had been unaware of his prejudices while tweeting these comments “unremarkable,” adding that “it is very normal to be blind to ourselves.
“There is nothing new or particularly outstanding about that. We as individuals can move through the world mindlessly.
“Until recently, I chose to be blind to the world.”
In an apology sent to BuzzFeed through his publicist after the interview, Rivers apologised.
“My tweets from a number of years ago show a great deal of self-loathing, a complete unawareness of the world around me and a disregard for others that I find deeply upsetting,” it began.
“To every single person these tweets will offend and disappoint: I am sorry.
“My role as editor of Gay Times today is to squash prejudice and represent our community in all its glorious and varied diversity.
“It is through my own development and desire to be a force for good in the world that I can apply my own learnings to help create a space for all of us to thrive within.”
This afternoon, he tweeted another apology.
In it, he said that his offensive tweets were “horrible,” “abhorrent,” “ugly” and “so hateful”.
