A Conservative councillor has been plunged into a race row after she branded footballer-turned-TV-pundit Ian Wright a "typical black hypocrite".
Alexis McEvoy, a councillor in the New Forest, Hampshire, sent the tweet about the former Arsenal player to her 500 followers on Twitter on Saturday afternoon amid the row over Gary Lineker's use of social media. The Mirror reports that she has since deleted the tweet and deactivated her Twitter account.
Quoting a tweet that claimed Ian Wright showed a lack of solidarity when Matt Le Tissier was let go from Sky for sharing Covid conspiracy theories online, Cllr McEvoy wrote: "A typical black hypocrite." She signed off the tweet with a grinning devil emoji.
The local representative has since downplayed the tweet, telling the Advertiser and Times that her comments had been "taken out of context". But other councillors in the New Forest, Hampshire, have called on the Conservative group leader for the area to take action.
Jack Davies, a Liberal Democrat councillor, has written to Tory New Forest District Council leader Jill Cleary urging her to take action. He added that the tweet would "encourage division and racism" and had "outraged" people who read it.
Cllr Davies told the Advertiser and Times: "I've removed the tweet now, and it was taken out of context. I'm not really going to comment on it.
"I've had enough of it, quite frankly - people like Cllr Jack Davies trying to portray me in a bad light." However, she has since reported herself for an investigation and suspended herself from the Conservative Party.
In a belated apology, she is reported to have said she finds racism "abhorrent", and complained that nobody was talking about "all the good things" she's done for people "whatever colour they are".
Ian Wright was the first pundit to pull out of the BBC's weekend sports coverage after Gary Lineker was yanked off air for his tweet comparing the language of the UK Government on migrants to that of 1930s Germany. The decision to pull Lineker from Match of the Day triggered a mass exodus of talking heads, commentators and presenters from the broadcaster's weekend football coverage.
Full-length English football programmes were replaced with cut-back "Premier League Highlights" with no commentary, after it emerged that the BBC did not hold the rights to externally provided voiceovers. The row even affected the BBC's Scottish football coverage as Sportscene aired without pundits.
However, following a three day stalemate the BBC agreed to allow the ex-forward to return to the airwaves without apologising for his tweet. Director-general Tim Davie said in a statement that the row had been emerged amid "grey areas" in the BBC's social media guidance for presenters and staff.
He added: "Impartiality is important to the BBC. It is also important to the public.
"The BBC has a commitment to impartiality in its Charter and a commitment to freedom of expression. That is a difficult balancing act to get right where people are subject to different contracts and on air positions, and with different audience and social media profiles."
In a series of tweets following the announcement, Lineker said: "I want to thank you all for the incredible support, particularly my colleagues at BBC Sport, for the remarkable show of solidarity. Football is a team game but their backing was overwhelming."
He added: "A final thought: however difficult the last few days have been, it simply doesn't compare to having to flee your home from persecution or war to seek refuge in a land far away. It's heartwarming to have seen the empathy towards their plight from so many of you."
Lineker is not an employee of the BBC, instead working for the organisation as a contracted freelancer. The Mirror has contacted Ms McEvoy and the local Conservative groups for comment.
