Anthony Bowens Talks Fan Yelling Homophobic Slur At Him On AEW Dynamite

As we've noted, AEW star Anthony Bowens was subject to a homophobic slur from a fan on last week's AEW Dynamite at the UBS Arena in Long Island, NY.

In a recent interview with TMZ, Bowens said he was glad that the incident was captured on video, as it proves there's still more work to be done towards inclusion.

"Unfortunately that kind of stuff comes with the territory, being an out LGBTQ athlete," Bowens said. "This is actually the first time that I've audibly heard something like that during a performance or during television."

Bowens made it clear that the isolated incident wasn't indicative of the AEW fanbase.

"This is not indicative of the AEW fans at all," Bowens stressed. "Any interactions I've had with them since starting the company have all been positive."

The incident in question occurred during an eight-man tag team match pitting The Acclaimed (Bowens and Max Caster) and 2Point0 (Jeff Parker and Matt Lee) against The Varsity Blondes (Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison) and The Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus). The babyfaces won the match after Jungle Boy trapped Caster in a Snare Trap for the submission victory.

Bowens — who came out as bisexual in 2017, but now identifies as gay — added that he's gotten used to homophobic slurs since he and his boyfriend started a YouTube channel.

"I have really thick skin, I'm kind of used to it from my boyfriend Michael and I," Bowens said. "We have our YouTube channel and when we first started that the comments were brutal. I can't even repeat them."

You can watch Anthony Bowens' full interview below.