The 32-year-old racing driver issues an apology for gender-shaming his nephew, but many people think his apology is not sincere as he likes a lot of tweets which claim that he's not at fault.
- Dec 27, 2017
AceShowbiz - Lewis Hamilton was criticized after gender-shaming his nephew, and he has issued an apology for that. However, his response only made things worse as people thought that his apology was insincere, leading them to slam the Formula One driver even more.
Taking to Instagram Stories on Christmas day, Lewis shared a clip of his nephew donning a pink and purple dress and waving a wand. "I'm so sad right now. Look at my nephew," Hamilton said in the clip before shouting, "Why are you wearing a princess dress? Is this what you got for Christmas? Why did you ask for a princess dress for Christmas? Boys don't wear princess dresses."
Oh dear Lewis. You’ve just opened a can of worms... pic.twitter.com/fpsiNeOZrd
— Nabeela (@JustNabz) 25 Desember 2017
32-year-old Lewis faced backlash online after that, with many accusing him of negatively stereotyping his nephew on the basis of his gender. The founder of anti-bullying charity, Liam Hackett, said that he was disappointed to "see somebody with such a huge platform use it to publicly shame and attempt to undermine a small child."
Disappointing to see somebody with such a huge platform use it to publicly shame and attempt to undermine a small child. https://t.co/O8FarLhAE8
— Liam Hackett (@DiageoLiam) 26 Desember 2017
A day later, Lewis issued an apology by posting on Twitter a series of tweets. He said that he was only playing around and "meant no harm and did not mean to anyone at all. I love that my nephew feels free to express himself as we all should."
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.
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) 26 Desember 2017
"My deepest apologies for my behavior as I realize it is really not acceptable for anyone, no matter where you are from, to marginalize or stereotype anyone," he continued, adding that he "hope I can be forgiven for this lapse in judgment."
My deepest apologies for my behaviour as I realise it is really not acceptable for anyone, no matter where you are from, to marginalise or stereotype anyone.
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) 26 Desember 2017
I have always been in support of anyone living their life exactly how they wish and I hope I can be forgiven for this lapse in judgement.
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) 26 Desember 2017
But people questioned the sincerity of his apology after he liked more than 30 tweets which claimed that he wasn't at fault. A Twitter user took to his/her account to criticize Lewis, saying that his apology "may seem more sincere if he hadn't then liked loads of tweets about PC NONSENSE WORLD GONE MAD."
Lewis Hamilton's apology may seem more sincere if he hadn't then liked loads of tweets about PC NONSENSE WORLD GONE MAD pic.twitter.com/1Cm30EZpT5
— Terri White (@Terri_White) 26 Desember 2017
Another user wrote that s/he knew that his apology "wasn't sincere. He obviously felt forced/was advised to make an apology for something that has quite simply been blown away out of proportion." One other simply tweeted, "He is NEVER sincere."
Of course it wasn’t sincere - he obviously felt forced/was advised to make an apology for something that has quite simply been blown way out of proportion.
— Lǐchádé (@field_o_dreams) 26 Desember 2017
He is NEVER sincere
— Diane Cullimore (@DNicoros) 27 Desember 2017