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Former Chelsea and Arsenal player Jorginho has issued a statement saying pop singer Chappell Roan was not involved in an incident in which a security guard reduced his stepdaughter to tears.
The 34-year-old Italy international claimed in a post on Instagram last month that an employee of Roan’s had confronted his wife Catherine Harding and her daughter Ada over breakfast at a hotel in Sao Paulo, Brazil, after the 11-year-old recognised the singer.
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Roan responded to Jorginho’s claims saying she felt “sad for the mother and child” who “did not deserve that”, but added 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 said the matter was now “closed”.
The midfielder, who has dual Brazilian citizenship and now plays for Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro, 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”.
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“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.
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“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.”
The incident drew significant media attention both in Brazil, where Rio de Janeiro’s mayor Eduardo Cavaliere wrote that he intended to ban Roan from performing in his city, and on social media.
Jorginho went on to state that he does not “support or encourage hate speech or online attacks from any side”.
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