Barilla Boytt: CEO's Anti-Gay Comments Spark Backlash | HuffPost News

Contents:

• BARILLA EXEC APOLOGIZ FOR REMARKS ON GAYS
• DID BARILLA PASTA'S CHAIRMAN MAKE ANTI-GAY REMARKS?
• BARILLA GO OM WORST TO FIRST ON GAY RIGHTS
• BARILLA PASTA HOT WATER OVER COMPANY PRINT'S ANTI-GAY COMMENTS
• BARILLA PRINT APOLOGIZ AGA FOR ANTI-GAY REMARKS
• BUONI PASTA RPONDS TO BARILLA'S ANTI-GAY COMMENTS WH LGBT COMMUNY SUPPORT (PHOTO)
• PASTA MAKER BARILLA UNR FIRE FOR ANTI-GAY MENTS
• BARILLA PASTA BARON'S ANTI-GAY MENT PROMPTS BOYTT LL
• PASTA MAKER BARILLA TRI TO MAKE AMENDS AFTER CHAIRMAN’S ANTI-GAY REMARKS
• BERTOLLI MAK THE MOST OF BARILLA CHAIRMAN'S ANTI-GAY COMMENTS
• BARILLA BOYTT: CEO'S ANTI-GAY COMMENTS SPARK BACKLASH

BARILLA EXEC APOLOGIZ FOR REMARKS ON GAYS

New ncsn me after boytt lls and petn drivPasta petors e social media advertisg to strs acceptance of all faiLGBT equal rights group lls Barilla%27s new rponse a good first stepBowg to ntug cricism of his ntroversial remarks about gays, Guido Barilla has pledged to meet wh groups "that bt reprent the evolutn of the fay, cludg those who have been offend by my words. "The ncsn, posted a vio apology on the webse of his fay-owned pasta giant, me as the pany tried to lm the boytt lls and cricism igned last week when Barilla said he would not show gay fai pany ads. "I would never make a spot wh a homosexual fay, " Barilla said Thursday on the Italy rad program La Zanzara (The Mosquo), acrdg to Italian news agency ANSA.

DID BARILLA PASTA'S CHAIRMAN MAKE ANTI-GAY REMARKS?

"ANSA reported that when the show's hosts noted that gays and lbians eat pasta, Barilla rpond, "That's fe if they like our pasta and our munitn, they n eat them.

He said he supported gay marriage "but not adoptn gay fai. "We accept his vatn to not eat his pasta, " said Aurel Manco, print of gay-rights group Equaly Italia, ANSA reported"Here we have another example of homophobia, Italian style, " said Alsandro Zan, an Italian parliament member wh the left-wg SEL party, ANSA furor spread ternatnally via Twter, where the hashtags #boittabarilla and #boyttbarilla prompted numero tweets. Barilla is homophobic, 's a good day to say DeCec is far better anyway, " tweeted actrs Mia Farrow.

BARILLA GO OM WORST TO FIRST ON GAY RIGHTS

"Pasta for all, " proclaimed a siar Buoni ad posted on Dar Fo, the Nobel Prize wner and Italian actor and playwright who once appeared a Barilla ad, issued an open letter askg the executive to rensir his woundg of the lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr muny.

"I thk the public backlash shows that homophobia is bad for bs today bee we're livg a world where LGBT people are rpected and accepted, " said Ferraro. "In a separate gay rights victory, Exxon Mobil said Friday would provi health surance and other worker benefs to married same-sex upl startg Oct. The chairman of the Barilla pasta brand once proclaimed he would never e homosexual upl his advertisements.

BARILLA PASTA HOT WATER OVER COMPANY PRINT'S ANTI-GAY COMMENTS

The chairman of the Barilla pasta brand once said he would never e homosexual upl his advertisements. In September 2013, Guido Barilla, the chairman of Barilla Group, one of the world's leadg pasta manufacturers, engenred ntroversy and prompted lls for boytts when durg the urse of an terview wh an Italian rad program, he rpond to a qutn about whether he would ever feature a gay fay his pany's mercials by sayg (as roughly translated to English): "We won't clu gays our ads, bee we like the tradnal fay.

If gays don't like , they n always eat another brand of pasta. "I would never do (a mercial) wh a homosexual fay, not for lack of rpect but bee we don't agree wh them. In the terview, Barilla said he opposed adoptn by gay parents, but was favour of allowg gay marriage, which is not legal Italy.

BARILLA PRINT APOLOGIZ AGA FOR ANTI-GAY REMARKS

His ment about advertisg was rponse to a direct qutn about whether he would ever feature a gay fay his pany's mercials. If gays "like our pasta and our advertisg, they'll eat our pasta, if they don't like then they won't eat and they n eat another brand, " he said.

BUONI PASTA RPONDS TO BARILLA'S ANTI-GAY COMMENTS WH LGBT COMMUNY SUPPORT (PHOTO)

Then the pasta magnate upped the ante by attackg gay adoptn. "I have no rpect for adoptn by gay fai bee this ncerns a person who is not able to choose, " he said.

- I have the utmost rpect for gay people and for everyone's right to exprs themselv. - I've also said — and I would like to reerate — that I rpect gay marriag.

PASTA MAKER BARILLA UNR FIRE FOR ANTI-GAY MENTS

Not long ago, pasta-maker Barilla was jt one more major pany that had n afoul of the gay rights movement, a distctn earned last year when s chairman said he would never feature a same-sex uple an ad. If gays didn’t like , he add, they uld eat somethg else.

BARILLA PASTA BARON'S ANTI-GAY MENT PROMPTS BOYTT LL

But a sign of how toxic has bee for a pany to be viewed as uniendly toward gays, Barilla has ma a dramatic turnaround the space of one year, expandg health benefs for transgenr workers and their fai, ntributg money to gay rights , and featurg a lbian uple on a promotnal Web se. Some of the gay advot who have worked wh Guido Barilla sce his ments believe his ntrn is scere. “He was horrified at the nsequenc and his personal beliefs, ” said David Mixner, a veteran gay rights activist and thor who served as a nsultant for Barilla.

"Italian Pasta Baron's Anti-Gay Comment Prompts Boytt Call. In 2013, the CEO of Barilla, one of the world’s biggt dried pasta brands, marred an otherwise anodyne terview about the pany’s legacy wh an egreg homophobic ment. “I would never do a mercial wh a homosexual fay, ” Guido Barilla said live on the Italian statn Rad 24, “not for lack of rpect, but bee we don’t agree wh them.

PASTA MAKER BARILLA TRI TO MAKE AMENDS AFTER CHAIRMAN’S ANTI-GAY REMARKS

But the efforts, mendable as they are, may not have had a huge effect on Barilla’s bottom le — and ’s possible Guido’s homophobic ments didn’t eher. Acrdg to the Bloomberg report, Barilla’s revenue was better 2013, the year of the homophobic ment, than 2012. Like Barilla, Chick-fil-A’s CEO has a history of makg homophobic ments.

And both have CEOs who have ma homophobic ments the past.

“I would never do a mercial wh a homosexual fay, not for lack of rpect, but bee we don’t agree wh them, ” Barilla said on Italy’s bt-known rad talk show. If gay ctomers didn’t like that, they uld go buy another brand of pasta, he said.

BERTOLLI MAK THE MOST OF BARILLA CHAIRMAN'S ANTI-GAY COMMENTS

The chairman, who turned 60 last year and has five children, further clarified that he opposed adoptn by gay parents. He said a vio posted to Facebook that he has "always rpected every person I've met, cludg gays and their fai, whout any distctns" and "never discrimated agast anyone.

Gay rights groups are boyttg Pasta Barilla after the pany's CEO, Guido Barilla, said Wednday on an Italian rad show, "I would never do an advert wh a homosexual fay. " Barilla went on to say that his pany's gay ctomers uld go elsewhere if they didn't like his stance.

His statements me as Italian legislators are attemptg to pass legislatn agast homophobic crim.

BARILLA BOYTT: CEO'S ANTI-GAY COMMENTS SPARK BACKLASH

Alsandro Zan, an openly gay member of Italy's parliament tweeted, "You n't ms around wh nsumers, cludg gay on.

AP file/Bernd KammererGuido BarillaThe print of Barilla is apologizg after disparagg remarks he ma about gay fai led to swift lls for a boytt of the pasta Barilla told an Italian rad statn that he wouldn't nsir g a gay fay to advertise the pany's pasta, sayg that "the ncept of the sacred fay remas one of the basic valu of the pany. " While he said that he had rpect for gay people, he went on to say that gay nsumers who disagreed wh his msage were wele to enjoy a different brand of pasta.

The executive quickly issued a clarifitn of his ments, wrg on the Barilla rporate webse that he had "utmost rpect" for gay people and their marriag and that he apologized if "[his] words have generated ntroversy or misunrstandg, or if they hurt someone's sensivy.