Adam Rippon Says He Received Death Threats For Being Gay Olympian

Adam Rippon ’s skating skills and brash personality turned him into one of the breakout stars of the  Winter Olympics   but he also received unwanted attention.

In an interview on iHeartRadio’s “Domenick Nati Show”  posted Wednesday, Rippon, the first openly gay U.S. man to medal at the winter games, was asked by Nati how bad the backlash was for being an out Olympian, and whether he had gotten death threats.

“I mean yeah, I did,” Rippon answered in the audio clip, below. “I received all sorts of threats. I received all sorts of negative comments and emails.”

Rippon said his haters “don’t matter,” and he questioned the effort they made to write him. “I’m gonna tell you, I wish I had that much time to waste, but I don’t,” he said.

The host and bronze medalist (in the team event) quickly moved on to another subject, without getting into details of the threats.

A rep for Rippon did not immediately answer HuffPost’s request for comment.