NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne apologized Wednesday after expressing his disgust on Twitter when he saw a woman breastfeeding at a grocery store.
The 31-year-old Kahne added, “One boob put away one boob hanging!! #nasty.
“I don’t feel like shopping anymore or eating.”
Breastfeeding moms gathered around the country Tuesday, including about 50 in the Houston area, for “nurse-ins” in support of a Texas woman who says she was harassed last month while nursing her infant son at a Webster Target store.
The nursing flash mobs were planned in 35 states after women heard about the case of Michelle Hickman, who says employees made her feel uncomfortable when she fed her son at the store while Christmas shopping last month.
Kahne’s Twitter posts have since been removed.
His tweets caused outrage on the social networking site, with one woman named Deana P., posting, “I hope someday you have a kid and someone tells your wife that feeding your child looks nasty.”
Kahne, who has 100,000 followers on Twitter, caused further furor by responding, “And your a dumb b*tch,” to which she countered, “Stay classy a**hole.”
Kahne later apologized on his Facebook page.
“I understand that my comments regarding breastfeeding posted on Twitter were offensive to some people,” Kahne acknowledged in a statement on his Facebook page. “For that, I apologize. It was in no way my intention to offend any mother who chooses to breastfeed her child, or, for that matter, anyone who supports breastfeeding children. I want to make that clear.”
“In all honestly, I was surprised by what I saw in a grocery store,” Kahne said in his apology. “I shared that reaction with my fans on Twitter. It obviously wasn’t the correct approach, and, after reading your feedback, I now have a better understanding of why my posts upset some of you.
“My comments were not directed at the mother’s right to breastfeed. They were just a reaction to the location of that choice, and the fashion in which it was executed on that occasion. I respect the mother’s right to feed her child whenever and wherever she pleases.”
