Slowthai apologises for ‘shameful’ behaviour towards Katherine Ryan at NME Awards
Rapper was accused of misogyny by an audience member, who he proceeded to throw a glass of wine at
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Your support makes all the difference.Slowthai has issued an apology to the comedian Katherine Ryan, who he was accused of harassing at an awards ceremony.
In a statement on Twitter, the British rapper took full responsibility for what he described as “shameful” behaviour towards the comic while he collected the Hero of the Year trophy at the NME Awards last night (13 February).
“Please forward my award to @kathbum [Katherine Ryan] for she is the hero of the year,” Slowthai wrote.
“What started as a joke between us escalated to a point of shameful actions on my part. I want to unreservedly apologise, there is no excuse and I am sorry. I am not a hero.”
In a second tweet, the rapper added: “Katherine, you are a master at your craft and next time I’ll take my seat and leave the comedy to you.”
He continued, “To any woman or man who saw a reflection of situations they’ve been in in those videos, I am sorry. I promise to do better. Let’s talk here.”
At last night’s ceremony, Slowthai pawed at Ryan, who was hosting the event, and made a number of lewd comments towards her.
“Baby girl, I don’t want to have to do this right now,” he said. “If you want to do something, see me later. She wants me to tend to her flowers … You’ve never had no one play with you the way I play.”
The rapper followed up the incident by getting into an altercation with an audience member who began to heckle him, calling him a “misogynist”. In response, Slowthai hurled a glass of wine into the crowd and attempted to fight the fan, until he was pulled away by security.
In response to Slowthai’s apology, Ryan tweeted: “I knew you were joking and congratulations on your very award-worthy album! I hope you know that a bad day on social media passes so quickly. Everything will be better tomorrow. Xx”
In a tweet last night, Ryan clarified that she was not discomforted by the situation, which she said she had “defused”. She added: “I knew he had lost from the moment he opened his mouth.”
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