In the world of hip hop and sports, the biggest problems seem to arise not on their way to the top but when rappers and athletes get what they want. When fame, notoriety, and money comes in, that’s when the real problems start. It’s so prevalent that almost all famous athletes and rappers have the same qualms about their new life: sharks are everywhere, and you can’t ever trust anyone who wasn’t in your social circle before.
To us fans, this seems trivial. I’ve tried to take it seriously before, but I always go back to the same argument whenever if these people actually face problems: you have millions, what else are you so worried about?
Then, a trans male accused Dwight Howard of adultery and of course, being a closet gay.
Like a Tide, It Never Ends
Probably the biggest gossip to have ever come out of professional basketball in quite some time, a trans male tweeted bomb after bomb regarding his past relationship with NBA player Dwight Howard. In a series of spectacularly revealing statements and recorded conversations, he revealed Dwight as a gay adulterer (who also has five kids) and someone who will hold on to his fame no matter what. There were accusations of threats, lies, and privy secrets; basically, it opened up Dwight like how a surgeon opens a person’s chest during a heart surgery.
Casual fans were absorbed by the drama. Not only is someone revealing the secrets of a very famous athlete, the person doing it is also a trans. That means Mr. Howard is homosexual, and in the hyper-masculine world of professional sports, being accused of being a homosexual is one of the most serious, biggest, and legacy-defining things to happen to an athlete. It’s a good thing Dwight is currently injured right now. If not, he would have to deal with this shitstorm of gossips that are sure to mar his profile forever.
This is one wild shark that scatters blood everywhere. It wasn’t a day before social media users feasted on the accusations. Before the day was done, everything about Mr. Howard changed. He was mocked, memed, and humiliated. In the age of the Internet, this is bad on all levels. Not only will he have to deal with the gossip for the rest of his life, he can never erase it from the Internet. It’s like permanent smear on his wall.
Then, there was proof that all of these accusations are a lie. The trans in question also did the same thing to PlayboiCarti, a rapper, and accused him of being gay. Nobody knew if that particular case went anywhere but quashed, as nothing has come out since that supports that Mr. Carti is gay. Nonetheless, Playboy Carti isn’t as big as Dwight Howard. He may have been accused of being gay, but he didn’t have the profile of Mr. Howard that makes all of these accusations much worse.
The Internet Never Forgets
It’s not definitive whether the trans male’s accusations are true or he wants something out of this bombshell. At this point, the damage is already done. Mr. Howard isn’t the goofy, dominant center he once was, he’s now a “6’11” bottom”. It’s what the trans male accused him of, and it’s not something he’ll be able to scrub off the Internet. This is something the people of the Internet never forgets: a saucy gossip about someone famous. Even before it happened before the Internet, once it gets ahold of a certain piece of embarrassing news or footage, it will always be there.
One more horrid thing about the Internet is that many will care whether it’s true or not. With certainty, I am sure that someone will bring it up the next time people talk about Dwight Howard and it will be the focus of the conversation. Many fans hope Mr. Howard brings this individual to justice, but who really knows if even that would make a difference? It’s already out there.
A Rich History of Bringing Down Rich Athletes
In the countless interviews and biographies I have read about professional athletes, I know one thing for sure: it’s scary to be one. It’s not the immense pressure to be your physical best and most mentally sound, it’s the people that scares me. Take this case of extortion of Carmelo Anthony and his wife, La La Anthony. It happened in 2004, when someone spat at Mrs. Anthony and had the temerity to ask Mr. Anthony for money in exchange for the tape. The men involved got caught before their wish to extort $3 million from the former Nuggets star became true.
This isn’t an isolated case, either, as athletes get threats of extortion and scam all the time. According to Lisa Ann, a former porn star, a quarter of all NBA players get extorted by adult film stars and strippers. There’s a caveat to this in that a lot of NBA players are married, so of course, sleeping with someone else is adultery. But instead of just giving the athletes their day of reckoning, these women want money instead. Nobody know for sure how many times it has happened, but as per Lisa Ann, these women get these athletes intoxicated, take pictures of their credit card and while they’re asleep. Then, they use these proof to get money out of them. I assume some kind of NDA will be signed then to avoid further trouble.
All these things that surround them, and some other problems they face with their friends and family, I understood more why professional athletes are adamant about letting anybody in their circle. It’s in every direction, and you don’t really get a rest from it apart from actually forcing that world out of your world. But then 
again, these athletes don’t want to come off as arrogant pricks who have too much money for their own good. These are still people, and they just want to stay on their lane and not have people all up in their business.
Not everyone can be Wilt Chamberlain, who was as smart as he was physically gifted. These athletes are young and inexperienced, and most of the time, they only ever knew sports. These sharks only make things bad for them once things are going good. It sort of makes you question what kind of person would do a thing like this, and then news like this Dwight Howard fiasco comes up and you realize that the world of fame isn’t as glitzy as it looks like from the outside.
