Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard have been dragged through the mud in the British media after a controversial photo surfaced. The Manchester United duo were photographed with London rapper Wiley, who lost his management in 2020 due to anti-Semitic statements on social media. Rashford and Lingard defended themselves by saying they were not aware of the situation surrounding the rapper.
Wiley posted on Twitter in July 2020 that Jews would be “snakes” and “cowards.” He accused them of racism towards black people and drew a comparison with the right-wing extremist Ku Klux Klan. The rapper’s management then broke off cooperation with their client. Wiley was also temporarily banned from Twitter. Shortly after the incident, the much-discussed rapper openly apologized, apologizing for “generalizing” comments. At the end of 2021, however, it was hit again. Under a new alias, Wiley once again made negative statements about the Jewish community on Instagram and Twitter, after which he was banned again.
This picture has been brought to my attention which I understand now, given context, could easily be misconstructed. I would like to reinforce that I do not and will not condone discriminative language or behavior of any kind aimed at the Jewish community or any other community.
— Marcus Rashford MBE (@MarcusRashford) January 25, 2022
The rapper’s statements stand in stark contrast to the frequent anti-racist campaigning of both Rashford and Lingard. Both respond to the much-discussed photo via Twitter. “This photo caught my eye,” Rashford wrote. “As I now understand, given the context, the photo is easily misunderstood. I would like to emphasize that I condemn and always condemn discrimination against the Jewish community and any other community in any form.” Lingard agrees with his teammate’s words and expresses himself in similar words.
I’ve been made aware of a photo circulating currently, that can easily be misconstructed. I want to make it clear that I do not condone any form of racism whatsoever!
— Jesse Lingard (@JesseLingard) January 25, 2022
Remarkably, in 2018, Wiley was awarded the royal honor of MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for his contributions to the musical landscape. Rashford received the same award from Queen Elizabeth in October 2020 for his efforts against child starvation in England. Manchester United have not yet commented on the situation.
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