Christian pastor apologises to Whole Foods, withdraws lawsuit over anti-gay cake
A gay pastor who claimed Whole Foods sold him a cake with a homophobic slur written on it has withdrawn his lawsuit and apologised.
In light of his apology, Whole Foods has decided to drop its counter-suit.
Jordan Brown, who is gay and the founder of the non-denominatonal Church of Open Doors,Texas, ordered a cake from the US-based grocery chain and asked for the slogan 'Love Wins' to be written on it. However, he previously claimed he noticed on his way home that an employee had added an offensive word to the lettering.
Brown has apologised to the grocery chain, admitting that Whole Foods did nothing wrong.
"Today I am dismissing my lawsuit against Whole Foods Market. The company did nothing wrong," Brown said in a statement.
He apologised for questioning their values and admitted he "was wrong to pursue this matter and use the media to perpetuate this story".
The pastor also apologised to the "LGBT community for diverting attention from real issues".
In response to the withdrawal, Whole Foods announced it is dropping its countersuit:
"We're very pleased that the truth has come to light," they said in a statement.
"Given Mr. Brown's apology and public admission that his story was a complete fabrication, we see no reason to move forward with our countersuit to defend the integrity of our brand and team members."