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Gus Kenworthy Explains Why He Won't Be Posting More Shirtless Photos Anytime Soon

"I guess I needed a little bit of attention."

Olympic silver medalist Gus Kenworthy is trying to steer his public image back into a favorable light after causing controversy with a culturally insensitive Halloween costume earlier this week.

And how? With an appearance on SiriusXM's Progressive Talk with HuffPost Gay Voices Editor-at-Large, Michelangelo Signorile, during which time the British-born freeskier opened up about his penchant for posting shirtless photos online.

"I need to cool it with that – according to my publicist," Kenworthy said.

Related: Gus Kenworthy Takes Down Culturally Insensitive Halloween Photo; Says He Was “Just Having Fun”

Addressing the exposure, Kenworthy had this to say:

I guess I just felt like for so long, kind of pretending to be straight and lying in interviews, and everything that I was doing to try and fit in, I felt like I was like – I know it’s not actually clothes – but I felt like I was covering myself, and covering myself, and covering myself, and really censoring myself.

So when I got to the point where I was really telling people that I was gay and I knew that I was going to come out publicly and stuff, it was sort of nice, and I guess freeing, to do something like that that was kind of off-brand for me, and something fun and I guess kind of objectifying, but still something that was fun and different.”

He summated his reasoning succinctly: "And maybe, on a lower level, I guess I needed a little bit of attention."

Then, addressing the headdress costume controversy, Kenworthy reiterated his earlier-in-the-week sentiment that, at the time, he didn't think his actions were at all offensive. “I would’ve never done anything that I thought was going to offend anybody," he explained.

So how did Kenworthy realize he ignited such an online furor?

I went on my phone and I Googled – like an idiot – but like, ‘Is it racist to dress up like a Native American?’ And, I guess the answer is yes... It’s sort of a vague line, because if you’re a character, then it’s not really racist but if you’re just, like, an Indian, then it’s sort of racist.

But at the same point, even a character, like Pocahontas or someone, for example, is still sort of based on a racial stereotype and sort of a misinterpretation of a culture.

I felt guilty that I had done it. I also feel that sometimes people do really overreact. It’s Halloween. It’s a night to dress-up. But I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable or feel like I was being rude or insensitive. So I took it down.

I feel like, lesson learned and I won’t do it again.

Kenworthy deserves a pass. He made a mistake, realized it straightaway, took down the post and apologized. Should he have had more foresight ahead of posting it? Yes. Should he be dragged through the cyber-mud? Perhaps... at the time. But people, especially those put on a pedestal, then examined with a microscope, make mistakes.

It's what Kenworthy does next that we'll be keeping our eye on – which, for now, will be with a shirt on.

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