Esha Gupta, an Arsenal ambassador, issued an apology on Twitter after a massive backlash on social media following her comments on Nigerian footballer Alex Iwobi.
“Guys, I’m sorry you thought it was racist. Was bad on my part, being a sports lover. Wallah never meant it. Sorry, guys forgive the stupidity,” read one of her tweets.
In another, she added: “I didn’t realise it directed towards racism.” But “apology unaccepted” appears to be the general sentiment on Twitter.
Earlier, the Rustom actress shared a screenshot of her WhatsApp conversation with a friend, which referred to the Arsenal footballer in offensive terms such as “gorilla faced” and “Neanderthal.”
In response, Esha herself wrote: “I honestly don’t know why they don’t bench him more.”
In another tweet, Esha Gupta claimed she was simply venting out her “frustration” over Arsenal’s 1-3 defeat to Manchester United in a recent game.
“It was us discussing our frustration during the game. Sorry, as I didn’t realise it directed towards racism.
Laughed over the spur of the moment, which was the games result, guys.
Been a victim of racism myself before. But this is not something I’m proud of. It was a fault, sorry, guys.”
Meanwhile, on Twitter, Esha Gupta was called out for appearing to be racist and a section of the Internet also dismissed her apology as inappropriate.
“Your response is embarrassing! You state on one hand you’ve suffered racism yet on the other have no idea that you’ve made a racial slur,” read an angry tweet while another added:
“How do you mess up an apology tweet.”
Whilst the public have had their say, Arsenal is yet to make a comment on the ordeal.
One awaits to see whether Esha’s remarks cost her the brand ambassadorship of the club.
