ANTOINE GRIEZMANN IS embroiled in a racism storm after posting a picture on his social media channels of him in blackface.
The picture was captioned ’80s Party’ and showed the French international and Atletico Madrid attacker in a black ‘Afro’ wig and wearing the jersey/shorts combination reminiscent of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team.
But Griezmann was also in blackface and he went to the trouble of covering himself in dark body paint too.
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As the picture went viral on Sunday evening and many of his followers expressed their outrage, Griezmann responded on his Instagram page and wrote in French:
“Relax, friends. I’m a fan of the Harlem Globetrotters and that beautiful era. It’s a tribute.”
Later, Griezmann deleted the image from his social media channels and took to Twitter to provide an apology of sorts.
Writing in French again, he said:
“I admit it was clumsy of me. If I offended anyone, I apologise.”
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
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Antoine Griezmann in racism storm after posting photo of himself in blackface
ANTOINE GRIEZMANN IS embroiled in a racism storm after posting a picture on his social media channels of him in blackface.
The picture was captioned ’80s Party’ and showed the French international and Atletico Madrid attacker in a black ‘Afro’ wig and wearing the jersey/shorts combination reminiscent of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team.
But Griezmann was also in blackface and he went to the trouble of covering himself in dark body paint too.
As the picture went viral on Sunday evening and many of his followers expressed their outrage, Griezmann responded on his Instagram page and wrote in French:
“Relax, friends. I’m a fan of the Harlem Globetrotters and that beautiful era. It’s a tribute.”
Later, Griezmann deleted the image from his social media channels and took to Twitter to provide an apology of sorts.
Writing in French again, he said:
“I admit it was clumsy of me. If I offended anyone, I apologise.”
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
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Antoine Griezmann Controversy Racism Atlético Madrid