December 18 – Talk about a faux pas. France’s much-touted Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann has apologised after initially telling his social media followers to “calm down” in response to an outpouring of protest about racism when he painted himself black.
Griezmann tweeted a photo of himself dressed as a black basketball player as part of a fancy dress costume.
After many of his followers urged the striker to delete the post, he told them not to over-react, saying: “Calm down guys, I’m a fan of the Harlem Globetrotters and the good times… It’s a tribute.”
But he was soon forced on the backfoot and did delete the post, issuing another tweet to apologise to anyone who was offended by it, adding that he understands “it was wrong” to do so.
“I recognise that’s it’s insensitive on my part. If I offended some people I’m sorry,” he wrote.
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