A truly disgraceful act is bound to meet with harsh retribution. The same happened when female surfer Sara Taylor was hit in the head by an unknown surfer. As it was filmed and released on social media, in almost no time, it caused a mass uproar over all social media platforms and a search for the malefactor thus began. While several users had identified him then, his name was finally revealed recently as João Paulo Azevedo.

Now, Azevedo is facing major backlash from all corners of society, including surfing legend Kelly Slater calling for his deportation. A bigger blow for the Brazilian surfer was when clothing brand Quebra Onda cut ties with him.

The surfing community collectively condemns the horrific act

The incident, recorded in video, quickly garnered all attention and spread like wildfire. In the video, Sara Taylor is ambushed by this random surfer who kicks her in the head. The clip then quickly shifts to the beach, indicating that the fight wasn’t halted there. Azevedo started beating up his friend Charlie. The video ended there with Taylor writing the caption as a cry for help to identify the perpetrator.

Well, the internet listened. And now the Brazilian surfer is in deep, deep trouble. Quebra Onda took to their Instagram page and wrote a long post condemning such an act. Their parting lines also meant that they parted with Azevedo for good. They wrote, “As this type of behavior is unacceptable, we inform you that we have taken the immediate decision to end our partnership with the athlete JP Azevedo”.

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Azevedo, who is now in the middle of a hurricane, has reportedly deleted his social media accounts for all the hate he has been getting. However, he wasn’t the only one there who is facing the heat.

A difficult road ahead for the Brazilian surfer

Azevedo’s fellow surfer Adriano Portela was also present in Bali during that incident. As Azevedo hit Taylor, she dropped into the water and her board narrowly avoided a collision with Portela’s surfboard. Portela too issued a public apology on his Instagram, saying that he acted with “anger and disrespect”. But he also insisted that he wasn’t the one who “hit or touched anyone”.

There hasn’t been any update from Azevedo. But one thing is for sure. It will be an extremely difficult, almost impossible task, for him to get back into the surfing community.

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