‘Maybe we are alone’: Jude Bellingham questions whether authorities ‘care’ about racist abuse directed at Black footballers
Away from the spotlight but still facing criticism, Jude Bellingham is still making headlines for the wrong reasons.
The 32-year-old, who is based in London, began his career as a presenter at the BBC at age 17. He first broke into the public consciousness in 2012 with a series called ‘Life Lessons’ where he discussed how to cope with adversity.
In the series, Bellingham travelled to the Caribbean to meet people who have faced racism and explained how to put their racism into perspective, including the time he had to leave a restaurant with his boyfriend when he was racially abused by fans inside a nightclub he was working in, and the time his phone was stolen twice in three days at the same nightclub.
Away from the spotlight, Bellingham has been criticised for his alleged involvement in racist abuse directed at Liverpool defender DeAndre Yedlin, which has led to suggestions he was responsible for his own racism, and that the team had little interest in the issue.
Yedlin, in particular was targeted with repeated racial abuse at the weekend, according to reports in the Liverpool Echo. Bellingham, then, was directly involved in the treatment of the player, after being forced to apologise and take part in a BBC programme on race after he tweeted to tell followers that he had been racially abused by a group of Liverpool fans.
In response, Bellingham posted a video from 2012 on his Instagram page saying “this is one of the most common reactions of me when I’ve been accused of racism. I don’t know what it is but it seems to have happened to many of you.”
Bellingham, who was also forced to apologise by the FA and was subsequently banned for 12 matches, has received criticism from former Arsenal player and Black England ambassador Danny Welbeck, who said Bellingham was not a role model for young Black players.
Welbeck told Twitter: “There are not many roles models and role models for young Black boys in football … Jude Bellingham’s been criticised by his former club for being a role model. He is a role model for football but not for young Black men. I think that’s a shame.”
One of Bellingham’s most-read posts on his