Lewis Hamilton’s apology slammed as ’empty’ after he likes tweets saying he shouldn’t have apologised
(Instagram/lewishamilton and Twitter)
Lewis Hamilton’s apology for yelling at his young nephew for wearing a dress has been called “hollow” after he liked tweets saying he did nothing wrong.
The reigning Formula One World Champion asked the small child: “Why are you wearing a princess dress?”
(Instagram/lewishamilton)
After his nephew indicates that he asked for the dress for Christmas, his uncle full-on yells in his face, telling him: “Boys don’t wear princess dresses!”
The child turns away, covering his ears.
(Instagram/lewishamilton)
Hamilton, 32, then posted a video of the incident to his 5.7 million Instagram followers, sparking outrage.
Following the backlash, he apologised for the video, which has since been removed from his page.
(Getty)
The former BBC Sports Personality of Year winner, who has won the Formula One World Championship title four times, offered his “deepest apologies” for the post.
Hamilton said he “meant no harm and did not mean to offend anyone at all.”
(Getty)
He added that he loves that his nephew “feels free to express himself as we all should.”
The star continued: “I hope I can be forgiven for this lapse in judgement.”
Watch Hamilton’s hideous rant here:
Oh dear Lewis. You’ve just opened a can of worms… pic.twitter.com/fpsiNeOZrd
— Nabeela (@JustNabz) December 25, 2017
But this apology has been thrown into doubt by Hamilton’s actions afterwards, which included liking multiple tweets saying he did nothing wrong.
One fan wrote: “You’ve done absolutely nothing wrong Lewis.
“You should never have to apologise to the PC brigade who are getting worse every year.”
(Twitter/GmacaF1)
That received a like from the world champion.
In a similar vein, another user said: “Nothing to forgive Lewis!
(Twitter/MJW_F1)
“It was a moment showing a loving Uncle have a laugh with his nephew. In this world soon there will be no comedy, no sarcasm, no opinions and ultimately no conversation.
“Everyone will be too scared to say anything.”
Again, Hamilton liked the post.
Another who wrote – rather unoriginally and ungrammatically – that “the world’s gone mad with politically correctness” also got a like, as did one who said: “You did nothing wrong mate.”
(Twitter/nicksmith058)
He also liked a tweet calling those who had spoken out against the video “pathetic”.
(Twitter/NufcJay18)
In all, Hamilton liked more than a dozen posts which said he shouldn’t have apologised.
Some examples here (Twitter)
This has led people to accuse the British star of having made an insincere apology.
One person wrote that “Lewis Hamilton’s apology may seem more sincere if he hadn’t then liked loads of tweets about PC NONSENSE WORLD GONE MAD”.
(Twitter/Terri_White)
Another told the star: “What a hollow apology when all you are doing afterwards is liking comments saying you shouldn’t have to apologise to the ‘PC brigade’.
(Twitter/SimWise)
“Shows that you don’t mean it at all.”
One wrote, pointedly: “Having a look at some of @LewisHamilton recent “likes” I’m not 100% sure his apology was genuine…”
(Twitter/asnelson100)
And another directed their anger straight at Hamilton, writing: “So why like all the comments on your thread saying it was all PC nonsense?”
(Twitter/gozo73)
“Well @LewisHamilton an empty apology is worse than no apology at all,” said one person, simply.
(Twitter/ursuladarrigan)
Another wrote: “What is shocking about Lewis Hamilton humiliating his nephew for wearing a princess dress is that he was totally oblivious to the fact that such a comment would cause a backlash & then he goes & ‘likes’ loads of twitter replies supporting him by saying the world has gone PC mad!”
(Twitter/MCantacuzino)
Yet another said: “So Lewis Hamilton’s been told his remarks may offend some people and that he should issue ‘sincere’ apology.
“But then he also goes and ‘likes’ a load of tweets saying he’s got nothing to apologise for. A PR nightmare that man!”
(Twitter/Gwyn82)
Hollywood star and all-round badass Charlize Theron had no problem with her son wearing a dress last year.
British singing sensation Adele was just fine with the concept.
(Getty)
And the Archbishop of Canterbury said earlier this year that boys wearing dresses was “not a problem”.
In September, Nigel and Sally Rowe said that unless a student at their child’s Church of England school on the Isle of Wight was stopped from wearing dresses, they would file a lawsuit.
The parents also pulled their children, aged six and eight, out of the school because authorities did not meet their demands.
(Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
But Archbishop Justin Welby urged them to leave other families and children to their own devices, explaining: “I would say to them, I don’t think that’s a problem.
“The other family are making up their own minds. The other child is making up their own mind.”
