Guido Barilla

He said he would never hire a gay person. Now he has to pay up for his discriminatory statements.

The boxes feature a design by illustrator Olimpia Zagnoli of two women sharing a spaghetti, Lady and the Tramp-style.

Years after the company’s chairman’s infamous anti-gay screed, some people are still boycotting the popular pasta brand, but most seem to be eating it.

Remember this guy? Four years ago, CEO Guido Barilla apologized for an antigay rant that sparked a boycott of his pasta brand.

An illustrated tribute of sorts to Barilla pasta appears in the online “Opinion” section of The New York Times, and asserts that a boycott by the gay community has ended because Chairman Guido Barilla’s apologized for saying that “gays can go eat another brand” of pasta.

NEW YORK — Barilla pasta, whose chairman came under fire last year when he said gay “can go an eat another brand” of pasta because his family-friendly company would never feature a same-sex couple in its advertising, has opened a new restaurant in New York.

ROME — Italy-based pasta maker Barilla is pledging to improve diversity after gay rights activists and allies launched a worldwide boycott of its products when a company executive said Barilla would never feature ads depicting gay families.

You all know it’s not about the pasta. It’s about discrimination and intolerance and ignorance. It’s about a mindset that continues on for generations and generations – passed down through a family like Green Bay Packers or Boston Red Sox tickets. When the Chairman knew his words had created a firestorm, he said this: “I only wanted to underline the central role of the woman in the family.” Well, as a woman who is also a lesbian, I feel so much better now.

Facing a worldwide boycott of his products, the chairman of Barilla pasta on Friday issued his second apology in as many days after saying he “would never do an advertisemenet with a homosexual family … if the gays don’t like it they can go an eat another brand.”

Gay rights advocates are calling for a boycott of Barilla, the world’s leading pasta maker, after it’s chairman said he would never feature a gay couple in his advertisements.