Chappell Roan’s name has been cleared after the soccer player who accused her bodyguard of aggressively confronting his 11-year-old stepdaughter said he “regrets the impact” on the singer.
Nearly a month after the viral incident sparked a wave of backlash against Roan, 28, soccer star Jorginho Frello issued a statement Monday to clear up the situation, which occurred during Lollapalooza weekend in Brazil.
“I would like to give an update on what happened during Lolla weekend, as we have been seeing and hearing a lot over the past few weeks and felt it was important to clarify everything now that new information has come to light,” he wrote.
“I made my initial statement in the heat of the moment, after hearing that my child and wife had been approached by an adult male security guard in an intimidating way. I reacted as any father would. My priority is, and always will be, protecting my family, and that is exactly what I did.”
Frello went on to say that the situation did happen as he originally described it, but “At the time, we acted on the information that was available to us.”
“Since then, I have become aware of new information that has changed my understanding of parts of what happened,” he said, noting that Roan made a statement, reached out privately to Frello’s wife Catherine and that their teams spoke.
“It became clear that she had no knowledge of what took place at breakfast and had not asked anyone to approach them,” Frello said. “She was understanding and sympathetic to what had happened to our child.”
He acknowledged that the security guard later confirmed that he was representing another artist at the hotel at the time.
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“While we still do not know what prompted him to approach them, and do not believe an 11-year-old at breakfast could reasonably be seen as any kind of security threat, it is now clear that he was not acting on behalf of Chappell,” Frello said.
“It was, ultimately, a misunderstanding in that respect, and I am glad to set the record straight. It’s important to me that this is clarified fairly and accurately. I regret the impact this situation has had on Chappell Roan, Catherine, Ada, and our family.
“I will always stand up for my family. But I also know how to recognize when things were not quite what they seemed at first.”
He thanked people for their support and said that he does not condone hate speech before concluding: “As far as I am concerned, this matter is closed.”
More to follow…
