Update Feb 1: Columnist and LGBT advocate Dan Savage, the creator of the It Gets Better project, tweeted on Thursday that he has pulled the 49ers video, citing the comments of Ahmad Brooks and Isaac Sopoaga that they were unaware they were participating in an LGBT-related project.
Dan Savage Pulls 49ers 'It Gets Better' Video After 2 Players Deny Participating
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After 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver made disparaging comments about gay men in a radio interview on Tuesday, a lot of people pointed to a video that the 49ers released last August for the It Gets Better Project as demonstration of the team's support for LGBT rights.
But when asked about the video by USA Today, two players who appear in it, linebacker Ahmad Brooks and nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga, denied ever making such a video.
When told USA TODAY Sports had seen the video and he was in it, Brooks replied, 'I don't remember that. I think if I made a video, I'd remember it.'
He was shown the video on an iPhone.
'Oh, that. It was an anti-bullying video, not a gay (rights) video,' he said.
When told that studies show that the majority of teens who are bullied are harassed over sexual identity issues, Brooks thought for a second.
'I know that. I know that,' he said. 'Okay, you're right and I'm wrong. Are you from one of those New York newspapers?'"
Sopoaga also denied being in the video at first, but then declined to comment after shown the video and being told that it was taped to promote the safety of LGBT youth.
Sopoaga, too, denied making the video, even while teammate Will Tukuafu, who overheard the question, tried to refresh his memory.
"Yeah, you made that video, remember?" Tukuafu said.
"No," Sopoaga said. "I never went. And now someone is using my name."
Sopoaga was shown the video.
"What was that for?" he asked.
To ask teens to stop bullying other teens because of sexual identity, he was told.
"Yeah, OK," he said.
Would you like to comment on it, he was asked.
"No," he said.
You can read the full story at USAToday.com.