Tabloid apologises to Everton star

– Everton star Ross Barkley received an apology from The Sun tabloid newspaper on Saturday over a column that made “unfavourable comparisons” to a gorilla.

The newspaper printed the apology and said it had not been aware that the England midfielder’s grandfather was from Nigeria.

Columnist Kelvin MacKenzie, a former editor of The Sun, had also written that the only other people in Liverpool with Barkley’s income were drug dealers.

His comments earlier this month – which prompted Everton to bar the newspaper’s journalists – came after an incident in a Liverpool bar where a client punched Barkley.

The column was headlined “Here’s why they go ape at Ross” alongside pictures of Barkley and a gorilla.

The paper suspended MacKenzie and on Saturday apologised. – AFP