A month after accusing Chappell Roan of sending his bodyguard to reprimand an 11-year-old girl who tried to approach her – information that the bodyguard himself denied, explaining that he did not work for Chappell Roan at the Rio de Janeiro hotel where he was staying – footballer Jorginho has issued a statement acknowledging his mistake. However, contrary to what some headlines indicate, the athlete does not apologize to the singer.
In his statement, Jorginho “regrets” what, from his point of view, was a “misunderstanding” that led him to act “defending” his family, “as any father would do.” However, he acknowledges that he reacted “hotly” and that he now understands that the bodyguard was not acting on behalf of Chappell Roan, and that the artist was at no time responsible for what happened.
“Since then, I have become aware of new information that has changed my understanding of some parts of what happened,” explains Jorginho in his statement, where he also notes that Chappell privately contacted the girl’s mother, Catherine Law. “Chappell Roan made a public statement, contacted Catherine privately, and our teams also spoke directly. It was clear that she had no knowledge of what happened at breakfast nor had she asked anyone to reach out to them. She was understanding and empathetic about what had happened to our son.”
The controversy caused a great wave of hatred towards Chappell Roan on social networks, even fueled, according to a BuzzFeed investigation, by an alleged bot campaign. This has contributed to reinforcing the image of the artist as a person who is unfriendly to her fans and who “hates” children, even after the bodyguard himself acknowledged that he did not act on the singer’s behalf.
