Former Chelsea and Arsenal midfielder, Jorginho, has withdrawn his recent criticism of the pop star Chappell Roan and issued a statement saying it was a ‘misunderstanding’ following a viral hotel incident in Brazil.
Last month, the 34-year-old Italian international claimed in a post on Instagram that an employee of Roan’s had confronted his wife, Catherine Harding, and their daughter Ada over breakfast at a hotel in Sao Paulo, Brazil, after the 11-year-old recognised the singer.
Roan responded to Jorginho’s claims saying that she felt “sad for the mother and child” who “did not deserve that”, but added that she had not been aware of the incident and it did not involve her “own personal security”.
Jorginho has now confirmed the security guard involved was not employed by Roan and that the “matter is now closed”.
The midfielder, who has dual Brazilian citizenship, stated in a new Instagram post that “the situation did occur as described” and that “we acted on information that was available to us”.
He added that the security guard involved in the incident has “confirmed publicly that he was representing another artist at the hotel at the time”.
“Chappell Roan made a public statement, reached out private to Catherine, and our teams also spoke directly,” said Jorginho.
“It became clear that she had no knowledge of what took place at breakfast and had not asked anyone to approach them. She was understanding and sympathetic to what happened to our child.
“While we still do not know what prompted him [the security guard] to approach them, and do not believe an 11-year-old could reasonably be seen as any kind of security threat, it is now clear he was not acting on behalf of Chappell.
“It was, ultimately, a misunderstanding in that respect, and I am glad to set the record straight. It is important to me that this is clarified fairly and accurately. I regret the impact that 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 recognise when things were not quite what they seemed at first.”