The Sun have today printed an apology to Ross Barkley regarding the comments made in the paper by columnist Kelvin MacKenzie on April 14th. On the eve of the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, MacKenzie wrote a column critical of Barkley and the people of Liverpool after the Everton midfielder was punched in a nightclub.
Here is the offending passage:
There is something about the lack of reflection in his eyes which makes me certain not only are the lights not on, there is definitely nobody at home.
I get a similar feeling when seeing a gorilla at the zoo. The physique is magnificent but it’s the eyes that tell the story.
The reality is that at £60,000 a week and being both thick and single, he is an attractive catch in the Liverpool area, where the only men with similar pay packets are drug dealers and are therefore not at nightclubs, as they are often guests of Her Majesty.
Following an outcry, The Sun suspended MacKenzie, and Everton followed Liverpool's lead in banning the paper from their stadium and their training ground.
And today, tucked away as a sidebar on Page 5, is an apology printed to Barkley. They repeat that they were unaware of Barkley's heritage at the time of publication, which is believable: one would not associate Kelvin MacKenzie with great journalistic rigor.
It reads:
On April 14 we published a piece in the Kelvin MacKenzie column about footballer Ross Barkley which made unfavourable comparisons between Mr Barkley and a gorilla.
At the time of publication the paper was unaware of Ross Barkley's heritage and there was never any slur intended.As soon as his background was drawn to our attention, the article was removed from online. We have been contacted by lawyers on behalf of Ross Barkley, who has made a formal complaint about the piece.
The Sun has apologised for the offence caused by the piece. We would like to take this opportunity to apologise personally to Ross Barkley.
A petition calling on all Premier League clubs to ban The Sun in the aftermath of the incident has garnered more than 11,000 signatures.
[The Sun]
See Also: How WhatsApp Plays An Oddly Key Role In Mauricio Pochettino's Success
