The man behind The Notebook has found himself in hot water.
Best-selling author Nicholas Sparks has taken to social media to apologise for personal emails he sent back in 2013, in which he expressed a clear disdain towards “an agenda that strives to make homosexuality open and accepted.”
In an apology shared to Twitter on Monday, Sparks said he was sorry for “potentially hurt[ing] young people and members of the LGBTQ community.”
It all began when The Daily Beast published a number of emails sent by Sparks last week, in which the novelist appeared to criticise the headmaster of the religious Epiphany school in North Carolina for “what some perceive as an agenda that strives to make homosexuality open and accepted”.
In the emails, Sparks informs headmaster Saul Benjamin that his decision to stop LGBTIQ+ students from forming a club was “NOT discrimination”, adding: “Remember, we’ve had gay students before, many of them … [The previous headmaster] handled it quietly and wonderfully … I expect you to do the same.”
According to The Guardian, Benjamin filed a lawsuit against Sparks in 2014, claiming Sparks' emails are indicative of a pattern of harassment, racism, and homophobia from the acclaimed writer. Benjamin was forced to resign from his position as headmaster, standing accused of “promoting a homosexual culture and agenda”.
While initially dismissing the Daily Beast article, saying it “largely ignores the overwhelming evidence we have submitted to the court”, Sparks eventually succumbed to growing criticism and released a statement online.
In his lengthy apology, the author said that as someone who “understands the power of words, I regret and apologise that mine have potentially hurt young people and members of the LGBTQ community”.
However, PinkNews reports that Benjamin’s lawyers have issued their own response to Sparks’ apology.
The statement reads: “The emails continue to speak for themselves and demonstrate Nicholas Sparks’s unmistakable lack of support for an LGBT club or the students affected by anti-LGBTQ+ bullying at the school.
“This new and belated statement by Mr. Sparks will be subject to cross-examination at trial, where it will be contrasted with other statements he has made on the subject of LGBTQ+ inclusion. We are confident that a jury will find Mr. Sparks and the other Defendants liable for their unlawful actions in August.”
