Soccer star Jorginho issued a lengthy statement via his Instagram story on Saturday, after a run-in with Chappell Roan and her security team reportedly left his stepdaughter in tears.
According to the Italian midfielder, his wife Catherine Harding and her 11-year-old daughter, whose biological father is English actor Jude Law and was a huge fan of Roan, were in São Paulo to see Roan at Lollapalooza Brazil. They turned out to be staying at the same hotel as Roan and saw her at breakfast when she passed their table.
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Jorginho said the excited child wanted to confirm it was indeed Roan, but kept her distance:
My daughter, like any child, recognised her, got excited, and just wanted to make sure it was really her.
And the worst part is she didn’t even approach her. She simply walked past the singer’s table, looked to confirm it was her, smiled, and went back to sit with her mum. She didn’t say anything, didn’t ask for anything.
Jorginho claimed mother and daughter then received a “completely disproportionate response:
A large security guard came over to their table while they were still having breakfast and began speaking in an extremely aggressive manner to both my wife and my daughter, saying that she shouldn’t allow my daughter to “disrespect” or “harass” other people. Honestly, I don’t know at what point simply walking past a table and looking to see if someone is there can be considered harassment.
He even said he would file a complaint against them with the hotel, while my 11-year-old daughter was sitting there in tears. My daughter was extremely shaken and cried a lot.
Screengrab of Jorginho’s Instagram story.
(Instagram)
Jorginho noted he himself is no stranger to life as a public figure (his 4.9 million Instagram followers isn’t far off from Roan’s 7.8 million) and said that fans like his daughter should not receive such treatment:
“It’s sad to see this kind of treatment coming from those who should understand the importance of fans. At the end of the day, they are the ones who build all of this. I sincerely hope this serves as a moment of reflection. No one should have to go through this, especially not a child.”
Roan, who has spoken in the past about aggressive fan behavior and having a stalker, has not publicly responded as of Saturday evening.
Jorginho, who currently plays for Brazilian soccer power Flamengo, spent more than a decade playing for top European clubs, including Napoli, Chelsea and Arsenal. He earned a third-place finish in Ballon d’Or voting in 2021, the year he helped lead Chelsea to a Champions League title.
