TheCable

Esha Gupta, Bollywood actress who got heavy backlash for sharing a racist comment, calling Alex Iwobi “gorilla” has tendered a written apology to the Arsenal player and Super Eagles forward.

She tendered her apology via an Instagram post. She wrote, ”I am extremely sorry for my ignorant action last Friday. Being an ardent fan of many years, I was deeply engrossed and caught up in the game.”

“Clearly I did not realise the racial undertone from my friend’s message, which she had shared on Instagram last week.

“For this, I am deeply regretful. I cannot begin to imagine how much I have hurt your sentiments.

“Racism has absolutely no place in my heart, and I promise you, for whatever it’s worth, going forward this will never happen again.”

Gupta also wished Iwobi forgives her “careless action”.

The Bollywood actress also penned a letter to the Arsenal Football Club, wherein she wrote, “I hope the club can accept my humblest apology and give me the opportunity to make amends. I promise to be very responsible from here on.”

Gupta posted a Whatsapp image conversation with a friend describing Iwobi as a “gorilla” on Instagram on January 27.

The conversation criticised Iwobi for his performance after a Premier League match.

The other person wrote: “Solves our winger issues. I can’t see that gorilla faced Iwobi running down the flank again. He’s so bad ya.”

Her reply supports this remark, reading “Hahahahahaha I honestly dunno why they don’t bench him more.”

The other person replied: “It’s like evolution stopped for him. Didn’t change from Neanderthal to man.”

She quickly deleted the image from her profile when she realised her mistake, but the screenshot had already gone viral.

This did not go down well with some users, who criticised her for her “ignorance” and called her out for being racist despite having claimed she herself has been a victim in the past.