Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Ben Shapiro: ‘Outspoken Lesbian’ Megan Rapinoe Made Herself A Victim

Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro said he doesn’t care for soccer, especially women’s soccer, but the conservative commentator proceeded to tear down the United States women’s soccer team, which recently won the World Cup final.

On the “Ben Shapiro Show” on Wednesday, Shapiro argued against the team’s fight for equal pay. Despite having four World Cup titles, and earning more revenue from things like jersey sales, the women’s team is compensated less than the men’s. Shapiro admitted that co-captain and joint top scorer Megan Rapinoe was a “very very good soccer player,” but insisted she would be getting fewer contracts if she were not a “very outspoken lesbian.”

“Megan Rapinoe is getting million-dollar contracts specifically because of her sexuality,” he said. “And because she’s a very very good soccer player. But let’s not make any mistake — if she were a very good soccer player and she were not a very outspoken lesbian, she would be getting fewer contracts because she is seen as a political figure. She’s sort of Colin Kaepernick. With actual talent in her sport.”

He doesn’t think the same about the team as a whole, though, saying they’re less skilled than teenage boys.

“I have no particular love for soccer, generally. I certainly have no particular love for women’s soccer, mainly because I care about skill level and women’s soccer is just not at the same skill level as men’s soccer,” he said. “Not even as teenage boys’ soccer.”

The fact that they’re asking for more money is “obnoxious,” Shapiro said, because it’s actually a great time to be a woman in America.

“We’re suppose to pretend that [Rapinoe is] actually quite charming and wonderful, and that it’s not obnoxious to live in the best time for women and best time for lesbians and the best time for women’s soccer in the history of the world,” he said. “And in the best country in the history of the world for any of those things. We’re suppose to pretend that actually she’s a victim and America is a terrible place so she could make more money, presumably. Pretty gross.”

Alyssa Fisher is a writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.