Kellie ‘was in a dark place over refugees comment’
IRISH boxing hero Kellie Harrington said she has been in a “dark place” following the controversial remarks she made about immigration last year.
The Olympic gold medallist said she is now very careful about every word that comes out of her mouth because of the row that broke out over a tweet she posted last October.
The 33-year-old boxing champion fought to hold back tears as she revealed the trauma she has been through over the controversy.
She said: “I’ve been in a bit of a dark place with it. I’m just sad. I’m sorry for the tweet I put up. It just happened. People say things without thinking about the consequences of it. And that was what happened.”
While appearing for an interview on Off The Ball last March the Olympian was asked about a contentious tweet she made and deleted in October of last year.
She reposted a segment from GB News which featured Dutch commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek speaking about a 12-year-old girl in France killed by an Algerian immigrant.
In response, the boxer retweeted the video adding: “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.”
In the widely circulated interview on Off The Ball she was asked if she stood by the tweet and if she had “strongly held views on immigration”.
The boxer said: “So, I feel, right now at the moment, that you’re trying to hang me out to dry. So, for that, I’ll say, next question.”
This week she told the Irish Times that she is now very cautious when speaking. She added: “I’m so careful
People say things without thinking of the consequences of it, and that was what happened
now about what comes out of my mouth. That never used to be the person I was.
“Even there, I was cursing, and then I was going, ‘Jesus, I’d better not say Jesus’. That’s what’s in my head now a lot of the time.”
The Dubliner explained that she had been competing in the European Championships last October when the video appeared on her Twitter feed and she found out about the young girl’s death and was feeling “anger and sadness” at the child’s murder.
She added: “To be very honest with you, I never thought of the hurt that I could cause to anybody by retweeting it.
“I never thought of what I said in the retweet either. I just said it. It was a spur of the moment thing. I said it and I put it up on Twitter.”