Kellie Harrington has released a statement, after refusing to answer a question during a heated interview.
During her appearance on Newstalk’s Off The Ball on Monday, the Irish Olympian was quizzed about a video she retweeted back in October.
In the video, Dutch commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek spoke to GB News about the killing of a 12-year-old French girl whose body was found in a suitcase in Paris.
Eva said the victim was “sacrificed at the altar of mass migration”.
Kellie retweeted the video, and wrote alongside it: “Very, very sad. A powerful message from Eva Vlaardingerbroek.”
“Our own leaders need to take a listen to this. She believes this is the 12th girl in France this year who has been killed by an immigrant. And that’s just France.”
The boxing champion, who later deleted the tweet, was asked on Off The Ball if she agreed with the views put forward in the video.
Kellie refused to answer the question, saying: “That was a post in October, so I do feel like you are hanging me out to dry. You know me by now and you know you’re going to get the truth off me and that’s exactly the truth as it is, as I sit here now.”
Kellie Harrington discussed her deleted tweet on immigration on #OTBAM. pic.twitter.com/cerleODJNa
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) March 27, 2023
The Dubliner said the interviewer Shane Hannon was like “a dog with a bone” when he persisted with the line of questioning.
Shane explained that it is his job to ask questions, and Kellie replied: “Here we go, right. If you’re not hanging me out to dry, let it go, move on. Be like Elsa and just let it go, do you know what I mean? Don’t hold it back any more, just let it go and move on.”
The 33-year-old also said that she was not appearing on the sports radio show to discuss politics, before questioning the interviewer’s “agenda”.
The interview ended shortly after with Kellie saying: “Over and out, I’m done.”
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Taking to Twitter on Monday night, Kellie wrote in a statement: “Last October I reposted a tweet of a video from a journalist (whom I did not know at the time) detailing the story of a young girl in France who was kidnapped and murdered.”
“Moved by the horrific circumstances of this story, I reposted a video of this journalist together with a copy of a quote. My thoughts in that moment were of that young girl and not any political opinion.”
“Having realised the significance of my tweet and the hurt caused to a number of people I immediately deleted the tweet. I engaged privately with a number of people who were hurt by my tweet and apologised to them.”
“As a sporting role model, I am aware that I need to be mindful of what I do and say. I reacted with my emotions and without the facts. How this came across is not reflective of me as a person or my thoughts.”
A statement following my interview earlier with OTB pic.twitter.com/FGuO3w7Wwe
— Kellie Harrington (@Kelly64kg) March 27, 2023
“I did an interview today during which I was caught off guard. I was not prepared for a question unrelated to sport and my response to the question asked was not definitive. I do not want to engage in politically sensitive matters.”
“What I want to make clear is, throughout my life both in boxing and outside boxing, I have been lucky enough to have had many multicultural influences and this continues to shape me to this day.”
“This is something that shapes me as the person I am today and something I am very grateful for. The people closest to me will attest [to] this.”
“Since the interview, I have seen some comments that I feel I should address and make my feelings and thoughts clear. As a sportswoman I am proud to say I am all about community, inclusion and diversity,” she added.
