‘Important to look him in the eye’ says Lee, as Baddiel gives an apology
FORMER FOREST STRIKER HAD TO WAIT MORE THAN 25 YEARS AFTER CULT TV SHOW
JASON Lee has finally had the moment he waited more than 25 years for – an apology from David Baddiel for the way he was abused on the Fantasy Football League show when he played for Nottingham Forest in the mid-90s.
Mocking players on the cult TV show was a running theme but for Lee it crossed a line with Baddiel donning blackface and sticking a fake pineapple on his head to represent his hairstyle of the time.
The apology happened a while ago, during the Women’s Euros as the pair discuss their support for the game on Lee’s new Absolutelee podcast. As Baddiel professes his advocacy for the women’s game, Lee asks ‘what was the last game you went to?’
Baddiel’s confession he’s never been to one is a relatively mild uncomfortable moment in an hour long interview which is generally raw, up front and essential viewing for those of us who enjoyed the cult hit and have come to realise - or not - just how badly it aged and how torturous it was for Lee.
The podcast, which Baddiel appeared on as part of his documentary Jews Don’t Count to discuss his own experience of discrimination, was released this week and has generated plenty of coverage in the national media, casting the spotlight on Lee in the way he has probably long wanted when he says he could take ownership of the situation.
“It had to happen,” he said on the latest Garibaldi Red podcast.
“People have asked me numerous times over the years – have you spoken, what happens when you do?
“The honest answer is I’ve never had the chance to speak directly. I was invited on to the show back in the day.
“That was never going to happen. I was never going to validate what they were doing.
“People have these conversations without me being part of it so it was important I claimed some ownership of the situation, sat him down and held him to account, but also gave him the opportunity to explain himself.
“Maybe a podcast would have happened anyway, the David Baddiel situation, this gave me a chance to take hold of it in a controlled environment where we aren’t speaking on his terms.
“It’s important people watch. I did it for a reason and people need to watch it in its entirety.
“I work in restorative justice where people have made mistakes and you need to give them a chance to rectify that. If someone wants to apologise give them the chance to do that.
“For me, it was important to look him in the eye, look at his body language and take something from it also for him to take something from it.
“I would like to think people might have more understanding about what I’m trying to say (after watching).
“There will always be people who say it’s just a joke and I’m being oversensitive. To minimise what I’m saying and people who have been impacted over the years, to say it doesn’t matter.
“It does matter. The people that have contacted me over the years and that’s flooding through right now - with people who say that this affected me at school. The fact he’s apologised, ok, but others still have to deal with the aftermath of that period of time. It’s a learning opportunity.
“Anyone that is open to these conversations I’m happy to work with. If you’re too far gone, good luck, I don’t have time to waste on you.”
The 51-year-old enjoyed a fine career, the quality of which is often overlooked. He once scored six goals in seven Premiership games for Forest but when people say Jason Lee, even now they think of the pineapple on his head chant.
So what of Forest fans who embraced it at the time? How does Lee view them?
“Forest fans were always supportive of me,” he said. “They sang that song in support of me.
“You could tell the hostility from the away support. They sang it in the most negative terms.
“Playing away games was very uncomfortable. I just wish the song
never existed. I’d always get stick in my career no matter what, I know that. Before during and after it I’d get abuse and have that resilience.
“It’s part and parcel of being a player and in a minority ethnic group you face certain stereotypes.
“I was very proud of my dreadlocks. It wasn’t a comfortable period of my life.
“It’s hurtful for family and friends to deal with it, going on to the field of play worrying about them.”
So what of the club? Could they not have done more at the time?
It would be easy for Lee to say they could, or manager Frank Clark hung him out to dry.
However, Lee does not see it that way, saying Clark backed him and it was a different world three decades ago.
“We weren’t in that time space,” Lee added.
“No one was speaking out like they are now. I’ll always encourage players to speak now about things that are important to them.
“We didn’t have social media then.
“We had post match interviews but that was about the game. No one was asking for an opinion on anything else.
“I don’t blame anyone. My manager, Frank Clark, and team-mates were supportive.
“It was surreal at the time, like an out of body experience.
“You’re still trying to perform. You don’t want to show you’re suffering in a sporting context because people might use that against you.
“I needed to play, to do something positive to show what I’m about and silence people giving me abuse.
“If I scored the winning goal I felt like I had the last laugh that day.”