Megyn Kelly Talks Bethany Hamilton, Rip Curl Trans Surfing Debate (Watch)

The dust has yet to settle following a single social media post from Rip Curl, which promoted a transgender surfer in a series celebrating woman athletes.

Fallout quickly ensued after the post went live featuring Sasha Jane Lowerson, a trans competitive surfer hailing from Western Australia. Rip Curl deleted the post, then they followed it up with a formal apology. Folks still weren’t happy.

Adding fuel to the fire, the post came after celebrated shark attack survivor and surfer Bethany Hamilton cut ties with the company – of which, no explanation was given. But it happened following Hamilton’s denunciation of the World Surf League’s adoption of transgender athletes. And now, mainstream media is picking up the story.

On his Sky News Australia show, host Ryan Murray welcomed American conservative pundit Megyn Kelly to talk about surfing, transgender athletes, and Rip Curl.

During her appearance, the chyron read: “R.I.P. Curl: Surf Brand Goes Woke”

Kicking off her tirade, Kelly applauded the backlash, stating, “I am so proud of my Aussie friends. God bless you. Good for you. You did it! You fought and you won. You made this company bend on its knee.”

She continued:

“Rip Curl decided to fire the most beloved surfer and spokesperson in sport’s history, Bethany Hamilton, who since 1999 when she was nine was the spokesperson of this company. She got the shark attack. They stayed with her. And because she said, ‘I don’t think guys should be surfing against girls in these competitions,’ they dumped her. That was, at least, what was suspected.”

Then things got really heated when she targeted the trans subject of Rip Curl’s campaign, Sasha Jane Lowerson:

“Just because they’ve shown you kindness doesn’t mean that they’ve rolled out a red carpet for you and you’re welcome here…because you’re not!”

With just one social media post, surfing has unintentionally entered the mainstream sociopolitical discourse. And what seemed like a story that would blow over with the next news cycle has done the opposite; it’s permeated, proliferated, exploded.

More to come.

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