Is Brad Pitt Afraid of Mike Tyson?
Dwyane Wade shared how much it meant to him that boxer Mike Tyson took the time to stand up for Dwyane’s 13-year-old daughter Zaya, who came out as transgender in 2019.
In February, rapper Boosie Badazz made transphobic remarks about Zaya on Instagram. He later doubled down on his comments in an interview with Baller Alert’s Sesh w/ Shirley, where he once again misgendered Zaya. In October, Mike had the “Nasty Nasty” rapper on his podcast Hotboxin’ and criticized the artist for his behavior towards Zaya, asking Boosie, “What happened to you that you think that you’re somebody that can comment on somebody’s life?”
Dwyane shared with Central Ave that he was happy Mike called out Boosie on the comments. “We had a conversation. I appreciated from a standpoint of, you know, Mike is someone who has never tried to be perfect,” he explained. “He is someone who has learned from this journey of life.”
He added that Mike is “so educated and knowledgeable about life,” adding, “For him to be able to drop that nugget on the world, to me, it was great to hear him say that.”
The former basketball player and his wife actress Gabrielle Union, who is Zaya’s stepmom, have long supported their child’s journey.
Charles Sykes/Bravo; John Lamparski/Getty Images
In February, Dwyane spoke to Robin Roberts on Good Morning America about how Zaya approached him about her gender identity.
“Zaya, early on, knew two things: She knew straight and she knew gay,” the dad explained. “But Zaya started doing more research. She is the one who sat down with us, as a family, and said, ‘Hey, I don’t think I’m gay.’ She went down a list and said, ‘This is how I identify myself. This is my gender identity. I identity myself as a young lady. I identify as straight trans because I like boys.'”
He added that raising Zaya helped him learn about the trans community. “My daughter was my first interaction when it comes with having to deal with this conversation. Hopefully I’m dealing with it the right way,” he said. “Some people think I’m not but, inside our home, we see the smile on our daughter’s face. We see the confidence that she’s able to walk around and be herself and that’s when you know you’re doing it right.”
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