Boys don’t wear princess dresses!
F1 star Hamilton accused of humiliating nephew in fancy dress on online video
HE may be a world champion and multi-millionaire, but Lewis Hamilton has a lot to learn about the Christmas spirit. The Formula One world champion shared a video of himself jokily chastising his young nephew for wearing a princess dress.
The video, which has since been taken down, shows him shouting at the child: ‘Boys don’t wear princess dresses.’
Hamilton, 32, immediately came under fire for berating his nephew over his choice of present – and last night he apologised for his ‘inappropriate words’.
In the post on Instagram, Hamilton told his 5.7million followers: ‘I’m so sad right now. Look at my nephew.’
The camera then moves to the boy wearing a blue and pink outfit and waving around a pink heartshaped furry wand.
Hamilton asks the child, who is clearly delighted with his outfit, why he is wearing the dress and if he got it for Christmas.
When the boy replies ‘Yes’, Hamilton asks: ‘Why did you ask for a princess dress for Christmas?’
He then shouts, ‘Boys don’t wear princess dresses!’, before the youngster covers his ears with his hands and turns away.
The official Pride in London Twitter account responded to the video saying: ‘Disappointed with this video of Lewis Hamilton!
‘Many of our community have experienced this kind of shaming when we were younger…’
Hamilton was also criticised by veteran gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. ‘Lewis is wrong to admonish his nephew, especially in front of millions of his followers,’ he said. ‘Kids love to dress up. They’re not fixated on malefemale gender roles.
‘Instead of being sad, Hamilton should be happy the boy got the present he wanted and is clearly enjoying it. His nephew has an adventurous, individual spirit. That’s a good thing and not a reason to shame him.’
Last night Hamilton, who is worth £131million, apologised on Twitter, saying: ‘Yesterday I was playing around with my nephew and realised that my words were inappropriate so I removed the post. I meant no harm and did not mean to offend anyone at all. I love that my nephew feels free to express himself as we all should’.