Matt Le Tissier has posted a video in response to the backlash he faced on social media after sharing an image appearing to compare the plight of the holocaust to the present day situation of wearing masks during the coronavirus pandemic.
Taking to Twitter on Friday, Le Tissier re-shared an image which had been posted by a user in response to a video showing a police officer challenging a member of the public on a train about the failure to wear a protective mask.
The image used showed holocaust victim Anne Frank, with words above which read: ‘The people who hid Anne Frank were breaking the law. The people who killed her were following it.’
Matt Le Tissier has posted a video acknowledging a tweet he received online backlash from
The post showed an image of Anne Frank along with a caption regarding her treatment
Le Tissier re-shared the image on his personal Twitter account and added: ‘Remember this’ – which led to widespread backlash on the social media page.
The former Southampton star and axed football pundit has since deleted the tweet and has now posted a video to acknowledge the backlash.
He said: ‘So I thought I would tweet this video as it may clear a few things up from this morning. Twitter can be a great page for uploading and sharing but on occasions this can be misconstrued in the process as I found out today.
‘Firstly, let me clear up the tweet. I never for one moment thought that some, not all people, would take it in the way that they did.
‘To clear up my response to the journalist with laughing emojis, it was because I genuinely couldn’t believe he’d taken it and conflated it that way. When I realised the tweet could be misconstrued this way I deleted it and I apologised.
‘Throughout this pandemic, I have from very early on realised the devastating impact that this was going to have on the mental health of the nation so I’ve taken it upon myself to find and share any positive information I can to try and bring hope to people who have been scared out of their minds by the incessant negativity that seems to have enveloped the nation.
‘I like many others have been extremely concerned that it appears people have been too scared to get their symptoms checked for other illnesses. I believe a better balance needs to be found.’
A huge backlash immediately followed the shared Tweet on Friday morning, with Twitter users giving Le Tissier a piece of their mind and strongly condemning his actions.
TV judge Robert Rinder was among those to slam the Southampton FC ambassador, having lost seven of his family members to Nazi death camps.
His grandfather Morris Malenicky was taken to Schlieben concentration camp in Germany, where he was forced to work producing missiles for the German army.
He wrote: ‘I’d say more about how painfully insensitive this is but sometimes things are what they seem and people are who they seem to be. You are Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!’
The TV judge was not alone in condemning the tweet and others were appalled that Le Tissier would invoke the Holocaust to support his views.
When pointed out by one user that the reference to the wearing of face masks had been inferred by the original post, which was posted under the video of the train altercation, Le Tisser doubled down and responded: ‘No mention of masks from me or the quote. So some leap.’
Another direct response to Le Tissier read: ‘Perhaps you’re being ignorant rather than deliberately offensive but please don’t invoke the Holocaust to support your crackpot views about masks. Thanks in advance,’ to which the former Southampton player simply responded with a series of laughing faces.
While Le Tissier did not delete the post, he did eventually backtrack on its intended meaning.
Following up, he wrote: ‘This appears to have got a lot of bots and trolls tweeting me about about masks! Yet I’ve just checked again and still I find no reference to masks in the original tweet!.’
One user responded: ‘I mean, the post you’ve quoted is a reply in response to someone being removed for not wearing a mask. There’s the reference.’
Another said: ‘I seriously hope you take some time to do some reading on the Holocaust and the rise of the Nazis. There’s a Holocaust memorial centre in Nottingham, not too far away. Maybe pay it a visit one day. After that, I think you’d understand why you should apologise for this tweet.’
Le Tissier would later delete the tweet and apologised saying: ‘Apologies for the recent tweet. Obviously taken out of context so I’ve deleted it so there’s no confusion.’
The incident joined a long line of controversy courted by Le Tissier, the most recent of which in the form of his questioning of the support of his former employers Sky Sports for the Black Lives Matter movement, and declaring he would be re-evaluating his personal stance.
The 51-year-old hit out at the movement’s ‘far-left ideology’ – as black footballer Karl Henry also branded the group ‘divisive’.
Last month, Le Tissier was axed from his role as a pundit on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday show
Throughout the year Le Tissier had repeatedly remained vocal on the topic of the global coronavirus pandemic.
In the wake of personal criticism, the retired playmaker released a lengthy statement detailing his position, before later going on to deny that he identified as an ‘anti-vaxxer.’
Le Tissier had wrote: ‘Yes I’ve made mistakes and errors of judgment in the past, which I regret, but I believe the good I’ve done far outweighs the mistakes.
‘I have huge sympathy for anyone who loses someone close to them by whatever health reason, I recently lost my grandad so I know how it feels.
‘You trolls and bots out there who try to belittle me with your snide remarks trying to make out I’m some uncaring individual who has no empathy, you couldn’t be further from the truth and I feel incredible sorry for you that there is so little joy in your life that you resort to this. I truly hope you find happiness soon.’
Le Tissier was sacked by Sky Sports along with colleagues Phil Thompson and Charlie Nicholas on August 26 as Soccer Saturday hosted by Jeff Stelling is set for a revamp.