Millionaire Florida resident Hugh Culverhouse, Jr. directed some explicit comments at lawmakers in both his home state and in Alabama, as well as the University of Alabama, according to a Sunshine State media outlet.
The “Florida Politics” blog on Thursday posted an interview with Culverhouse, Jr. which followed up on the events of the previous day.
The same blog on Wednesday said that Culverhouse, Jr. was calling for a boycott of the state of Alabama and the University of Alabama over the recently signed into law abortion ban, the “Human Life Protection Act.”
The Florida businessman, who did not graduate from UA at any level of study, last year donated $21.5 million to the university’s law school, which was in turn named after him.
Culverhouse, Jr. is currently the largest donor in the University of Alabama’s history, and outlets like Alabama Media Group on Wednesday zealously pushed the narrative that his support of the university was ending because of the abortion debate.
However, in a concise press release later that day, a spokesperson for the University of Alabama System explained that Wednesday’s outburst by Culverhouse, Jr. came at the tail-end of a prolonged dispute between him and the university that had nothing to do with abortion — or any type of liberal social justice issue.
Culverhouse, Jr. had claimed of his supposed abortion-related stand, “I cannot stand by silently and allow my name to be associated with a state educational system… which promotes blatant discrimination.”
Yet, the UA System advised, “As part of an ongoing dispute, last week Hugh Culverhouse, Jr. asked for the return of $10 million, repeating numerous demands about the operations of the University of Alabama School of Law.”
The System press release also detailed that the System chancellor had recommended to give Culverhouse, Jr. back all of his $21.5 million donation — the day before his comments on Alabama’s abortion ban.
The release continued, “Consequently, [Tuesday] Chancellor St. John recommended to the Board of Trustees that it return all of Mr. Culverhouse’s $21.5 million donation to the Law School, which will be acted on at the Board’s meeting next week.”
“None of the issues between the Law School and Mr. Culverhouse had anything to do with the passage of legislation in which the University had no role,” the System spokesperson concluded. “Donors may not dictate University administration.”
‘Fu** you, and have a nice day’
This release seemed to have angered Culverhouse, Jr., who responded to the System in an expletive-filled Florida Politics article.
“I’m sorry for the university,” he reportedly told the website, “but fu** you, and have a nice day.”
The outlet reported he asserted that an “agreement” was made with the university when making the donation that he would “have involvement in decisions at the school.”
Culverhouse, Jr., according to Florida Politics, acknowledged he had been involved in a dispute with the university over that claim, with the outlet specifying one example that he “disagreed with the law school dean about upping entrance requirements.”
Again, remember the System emphasized, “Donors may not dictate University administration.”
However, Culverhouse, Jr. reportedly made another demand of the university.
Florida Politics wrote, “As far as abortion, Culverhouse said he did say no endowment chair should be appointed until the abortion issue gets resolved.”
To be clear, the university, the law school and the System have nothing to do with Alabama’s abortion law.
Yet, in the Thursday Florida Politics interview, Culverhouse, Jr. still teed off on the issue in dramatic fashion.
“Saudi Arabia is more liberal in granting abortions than Alabama,” the Floridian lamented.
He remarked, “What really f—ing pisses me off is if I sent my daughter to Alabama and she got gang-raped by 15 to 20 men, she could not obtain an abortion without the doctor going to prison. But a lot of rape cases, they get probation, or get 5 years, 15 or 20 years. A doctor faces 99 godd*** years.”
This comes in spite of the fact that Alabama’s new abortion law is not in effect — and will almost certainly never go into effect.
Culverhouse also said he would make similar boycott demands for other states enacting new abortion restrictions, including his home state of Florida.
Multiple abortion restrictions were filed this year in Florida, though none passed, the outlet reported.
Yet, State Rep. Mike Hill, (R-Florida), told the Pensacola News-Journal he intended to file a bill similar to Alabama’s next year, notably telling that local newspaper God had spoken to him after the Yellowhammer State passed its law and encouraged Hill to do so.
“Mike Hill got told by God to do that,” Culverhouse, Jr. commented. “But you can tell Mike Hill that God and Jesus talked to me last night and they said you fu** anybody who violates Supreme Court law. So I’m following God.”
Culverhouse, Jr. added, “Maybe his God and my God are schizo-fu**ing-phrenic, or maybe he should stop using religion to go after women.”
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