Nigel Farage's team accuse ITV of 'an attack' as racial slur clip emerges
Footage of Nigel Farage using an alleged racial slur at the request of one of his customers has emerged during the controversial former MEP's stint on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!
In the personalised video message, Farage told a gay NHS worker they would "get n** dick for Christmas " in a message the recipient has branded "racist, homophobic and ableist". Farage recorded the video through clip-sharing service Cameo, a site that allows celebrities to charge fans for personalised video messages.
According to the Byline Times, the former Brexit Party leader, 58, sent the video on 23 December 2021 to a man who paid £75 for the recording and provided a script for the former UKIP leader to read. The man ordered the video from Farage to deliver a message to a male mental health worker.
The recipient told the Byline Times: "In 2021 I was working with young people… [who] were expressing racist views and I was talking to them via [Facebook] Messenger. I was trying to counter this. I gave up because I was getting nowhere and they paid Mr Farage to do a 30-second online video insulting me…
Nigel Farage's team claim the request 'slipped through the net' (Cameo)He continued: "I did email him asking him to steer them away from racism and he didn’t reply. In December 2021, they paid for him to again insult me, this time saying how much he enjoyed insulting me and saying he hoped I got '**g dick for Christmas’. They meant black man’s penis."
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
The 34-second scripted clip sees Farage say: "A message from [name], delivered by me Nigel Farage. You are a bit of an old loser. I diagnose you with ‘ID*D’, yes Intelligence Deficit [name] Disorder’. Now I’ve been sipping martinis on the beach with all the money from all these videos, which is absolutely marvellous." Farage, who was paid a reported £1.5million by ITV to appear on this year's series of I'm A Celebrity, has recorded more than 4,000 Cameo videos and it is estimated to have made around £225,000 after fees from the site.
Farage continues in the clip to say: "It’s really great that I am being paid… to insult you. That’s what [name] wanted me to do and I don’t find it difficult after all my years in the European Parliament. Meanwhile, you will get n*g dick for Christmas."
Farage's team claim the clip is being used as a way to ruin his chances of winning a reality TV show (Cameo)The man - who has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and identifies as gay - told the Byline Times: "It was racist, homophobic and ableist. It was deeply offensive. Mr Farage does not know me. I was shocked to see him revelling in it. I could have been anyone. What if I had been 15 years old and struggling to come to terms with my sexuality? These words have real impact."
The Mirror has contacted ITV and Farage for comment on this story. In a statement shared with the Daily Express, a spokesperson for Farage confirmed the video clip displayed on Byline Times' website is genuine. They said: "When Nigel first joined Cameo, there was a concerted effort by remain supporters to hijack the platform to embarrass Nigel by getting him to read out obscure rude words and in-jokes between friends.
"It is widely reported that some of these slipped through the net, as Nigel is a classic Boomer Dad. In the video, Nigel was asked by a customer on Cameo to read a message they had written for a friend. Had Nigel known that the message he was asked to read contained an obscure offensive word he would not have made the video."
Farage's spokesperson went on to claim the release of Byline Times' report is an "attack by ITV" in order to damage Farage's chance of becoming King of the Jungle when I'm A Celebrity comes to an end next month.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
