Amir Khan apologises for calling Caitlyn Jenner by former name
Amir Khan (Scott Heavey/Getty)
Amir Khan has apologised for calling Caitlyn Jenner by her deadname.
The 31-year-old, who is the former light-welterweight world boxing champion, posted a picture with Jenner on his Snapchat after they met at the ESPY awards in Los Angeles.
He captioned the post with Jenner’s former name.
The message came under fire on social media, with fans questioning why Khan had “deadnamed” the athlete, by referring to her using the name she used prior to transition.
Khan has now posted an apology after sustained criticism.
Taking to his Twitter account, he wrote: “I made a genuine mistake at the #ESPYS.
“Calling @Caitlyn_Jenner [former name] was in regards to their sports image, as an Olympian.
“It’s been brought to my attention that was it was wrong regardless. Therefore I would like to apologies [sic] to the transgender community.”
The apology generated transphobic abuse from Khan’s fans, who took to Twitter to brand Jenner “confused” and “f**king embarassing”
Jenner has not commented on the incident.
The boxer also posted a video of himself high-fiving Jenner on Instagram during the same evening and tagged her Instagram handle, which is @caitlynjenner.
Amir Khan (Nathan Stirk/Getty)
Jenner came out as trans in 2015 and has since battled with the media to be addressed by her correct name and pronouns.
The 68-year-old, who is the parent to daughters Kylie and Kendall Jenner, came out to the world on the cover of Vanity Fair under the headline: ‘I am Caitlyn.’
Comedian Ricky Gervais recently released a Netflix special where instead of telling jokes, he spends several minutes referring to Jenner by her former name.
Gervais went out of his way to refer to Jenner by her former name a total of 15 times in just a few minutes for the special, which appeared to be directly baiting the criticism – with promos for the show bearing the tagline “prepare to be offended”.
The comedy special received lacklustre reviews and little attention beyond the row.
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Jenner, who used to be a supporter of Donald Trump, recently declared him “the worst president we have ever had” on LGBT issues.
She said: “I want him to know politically I am disappointed, obviously. I don’t want our community to go backwards
“Just leave us alone, that’s all we want. Then maybe later down the line, we can get somebody a little better.
“I think it’s good that I’m on the Republican side because the Republicans know that, and I have an immediate in with them to change their minds.
“The Republicans need the most work when it comes to our issues, I get that. I would rather work from the inside. I’m not the type of person who is going to stand on a street corner with a sign and jump up and down. No, I’m going to go have dinner with these people.”
She added that Vice President Mike Pence, whom she met with after Trump’s inauguration, was the “real enemy” on LGBT issues.
