Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard have both spoken out to publicly condemn antisemitism after an image of the two with rapper Wiley has been circulating online.
The Manchester United and England pair were photographed with the 43-year-old grime artist in an image which is thought to have been taken on Sunday in Dubai, where Wiley has been performing and a number of England footballers are currently on holiday.
Wiley – whose real name is Richard Kylea Cowie, and is often labelled the ‘Godfather of Grime’ – was one of the most well-known and successful artists on the UK grime scene since the turn of the century, but was notably dropped by his management back in 2020 after making a number of offensive and antisemitic comments during rants on social media.
The rapper has been banned from Twitter and Instagram multiple times for his remarks.
Following the circulation of the image on social media this week, Rashford and Lingard have both issued statements condemning the rapper’s previous comments.
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They have insisted they do not support Wiley or his beliefs.
This picture has been brought to my attention which I understand now, given context, could easily be misconstrued. I would like to reinforce that I do not and will not condone discriminative language or behaviour of any kind aimed at the Jewish community or any other community.
24-year-old Rashford said in his statement on Twitter yesterday: “This picture has been brought to my attention which I understand now, given context, could easily be misconstrued. I would like to reinforce that I do not and will not condone discriminative language or behaviour of any kind aimed at the Jewish community or any other community.
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“I truly believe that tackling antisemitism in and outside of the game requires a greater level of attention and should very much form part of the game’s anti-racism stance.”
When further questioned on Twitter by a Jewish journalist about the context of the picture as this was “not explained in [his] statement”, Rashford responded that he “wasn’t aware” of Wiley’s comments at the time the photo was taken.
“I wasn’t aware of comments that had been made when I got pulled into a photo opportunity. Comments that I absolutely condemn [and] I apologise for any upset caused,” he said.
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“We just all happened to be in the same place at the same time.”
Jesse Lingard also took to Twitter to speak out after the picture was seen circulating.
The 29-year-old said: “I’ve been made aware of a photo circulating currently, that can easily be misconstrued.
“I want to make it clear that I do not condone any form of racism whatsoever.”
I’ve been made aware of a photo circulating currently, that can easily be misconstrued. I want to make it clear that I do not condone any form of racism whatsoever!
Back in July 2020, shortly after the rapper made several offensive comments against Jewish people on social media, Wiley did an interview with Sky News about such antisemitic beliefs, where he refused to distance himself from them, and claimed the comments were aimed at his Jewish manager.
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“My comments should not have been directed to all Jews or Jewish people,” he said.
“I want to apologise for generalising, and I want to apologise for comments that were looked at as antisemitic.”
Sky News was strongly criticised for giving the rapper a platform to explain himself.
Featured Image – Instagram (@manchesterunited | @jesselingard)
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Greater Manchester restaurant speaks out after being paid a visit by Nigel Farage
Daisy Jackson
A restaurant in Greater Manchester has issued a lengthy statement after it was paid a visit by Nigel Farage on his campaign trail.
Vault 2, a family-run business in Denton, has said that it’s been bombarded with negative messages since the Reform party leader was photographed inside the restaurant.
Farage had made appearances at a number of local businesses in Tameside, alongside the party’s candidate, Matt Goodwin.
Vault 2 stressed in its statement about Nigel Farage that it is ‘a restaurant, not a political platform’, adding: “We hold no prejudice toward anyone – regardless of political views, race, background, creed, or beliefs. Everyone is welcome through our doors, and anyone may privately hire our venue. That has always been the case and will remain so.”
The restaurant also clarified that it was not a hosted event that Farage attended, nor were they endorsing or supporting him by allowing him to ‘call in’.
Vault 2 added: “It is genuinely upsetting, after everything we have done – and continue to do – for this town, to receive accusations of favouritism or messages saying you’ll never visit us again based on this.”
The restaurant then said that it takes ‘no political stance, shows no favour, and aligns with no party’ – though critics have pointed out that its Facebook page had shared a Reform post just before making this statement.
Inside Vault 2 last yearFood at Vault 2Vault 2 has issued a statement about the Nigel Farage visit. Credit: The Manc
Vault 2 signed off its statement by saying: “Whether you vote left, right, centre, or not at all — you are welcome here. Food first. Hospitality always. Thank you x.”
One person commented on the post: “If your doors are open to fascists, then your doors are closed to their targets. I sincerely hope your business suffers for it.”
Another said: “How can you ‘create a welcoming space’ if you welcome people whose aim to create the exact opposite.”
And someone else said: “This would be more believable if you weren’t liking Reform posts on Facebook. If you take no political stance and align with no party, maybe don’t like posts about Goodwin from your business account. We see you.”
But several people showed support for Vault 2, with one writing: “Well said – shame on those sending negativity – the keyboard warriors need to take a break and disappear!”
Vault 2’s statement in full addressing the visit from Nigel Farage. Credit: Instagram @vault2_barandbistro
Ticket requests are now officially open for Harry Styles’ one-night-only Manchester gig
Emily Sergeant
The time has come – the ticket request system for Harry Styles’ one-night-only gig in Manchester is now live.
In case you hadn’t heard, it was announced on Wednesday evening after much speculation that Harry Styles would be making a return home to Manchester for a one-night-only ‘intimate’ gig at Co-op Live to celebrate the release of his fourth studio album next month.
Styles is set to share Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally with the world on Friday 6 March – and it’s that very same night he’ll be taking to the stage in Manchester.
Although little is known about what to expect at the gig, the poster for the event does state that there’ll be a ‘special performance of the album’, so it seems fair to say that Manchester will be the first to hear the new set of songs in full live.
And if all of that wasn’t exciting enough as it is, the tickets are only £20 per person.
But, of course, there is a bit of a catch, as this isn’t your regular online queuing up for tickets scenario, this is a ‘ticket request’ system instead.
So, like us – and literally every other fan in the vicinity of Greater Manchester and beyond this week – you’re probably wondering what a ‘ticket request’ system is… what does it look like? How does it work? Basically, what the heck is it? Well, we’ve done a bit of digging around to get to the bottom of it so you’re not left too much in the dark.
According to Ticketmaster’s website, if an artist is running a ticket request, they’ll invite fans to request tickets so you don’t have to compete in a first-come, first-served sale.
This means you can take your time to review the available options and request the right tickets for you.
All you need to do is tell Ticketmaster which shows you’re interested in, the type of ticket you want, and your payment details. Then, if the tickets you request can be fulfilled, your card will be charged and you’ll get emailed instructions to access them in the Ticketmaster App.
Unfortunately, as much as we’d love it to be the case for everyone, submitting a request doesn’t guarantee you tickets – it really is just luck of the draw.
To request tickets, you’ll need to follow these three simple steps:
Select which shows you’re interested in and the type of ticket you want
Add your payment details
Harry Styles ticket requests are now live / Credit: Johnny Dufort (Publicity Picture)
Ticketmaster will then send you a summary email that details the tickets you’ve requested. Your card won’t be charged at this time, but they may charge a temporary £1 authorisation to your card to validate your request.
A maximum of two tickets per person can be requested, which has been set to allow for as many fans as possible to get tickets.
Now, here’s the crucial part – you will need to submit your request for tickets while the window is open until Sunday 8 February at 11pm GMT. After the request window closes, you’ll get a second email by 11:59pm GMT on Tuesday 10 February confirming whether or not your request has been fulfilled.
Emily Sergeant -
26th January 2022 
