Rhea Ripley Issues Apology For Homophobic Slur

Former NXT UK Women’s champion, Rhea Ripley, issued an apology today for using a homophobic slur during a recent live Twitch stream.

Ripley sent the following message on Twitter and said the message was coming from Demi Bennett (her real name).

“I know a lot of you are upset with me after tonight, but I just wanted to publicly say that I am sorry. My brain to mouth filter came down for a second and I forgot that some words are a big no no to a lot of people. I am a firm believer that everyone should be treated equally, whether that be race or sexual orientation. With that said, I just wanted to say how dearly sorry I am to everyone that was offended by my choice of words tonight.”

Ripley was hurling a string of expletives when the slur was used. This was actually a theme of the show. Followers could donate to the stream and Ripley would insult them in response.

A user on Twitter posted a clip of her using the word:

This is what Rh*a said
https://twitter.com/FVITHBREAKER/sta...263552/video/1

— hey guys its nick hole (@FVITHBREAKER) April 25, 2019

Ripley won the inaugural NXT UK Women’s Championship at NXT UK tapings last summer. After defending the belt twice she lost it to Toni Storm at Takeover: Blackpool in January. Ripley then dropped a subsequent rematch with Storm at the next set of tapings.

Since losing the title, however, Ripley has gone on something of a short winning streak. She defeated Xia Brookside in February and then defeated Kacy Catanzaro in a match which aired yesterday on WWE NXT UK.