Former Nottingham Forest striker Jason Lee has said that he has waited a ‘long time’ for an apology from David Baddiel, for sketches mocking the player in the 1990s.
Sketches on the Fantasy Football League show saw the comedian black up and mock Lee’s dreadlocks on regular occasions. The sketches would also see the striker mocked for he perceived poor finishing.
After Frank Skinner previously apologised in the media, Lee had the chance to get a face to face apology from Baddiel through the latter’s Channel 4 documentary, Jews don’t count. The TV personality is said to have felt the need to address the issue created by the sketches.
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“I’ve had to wait a long time, I’ve always felt I was contactable and there was an opportunity,” Lee told the Guardian of the apology. “I thought it was a poor excuse to say he couldn’t get in touch with me. I think he admits embarrassment, shame and the longer it took, the harder it was to have that conversation.”
Following the meeting between the two, Lee has outlined the importance of now learning from the experience.
“I think it was important to try and draw a line under it,” he added. “There is no point apologising and then going out and putting your foot in it and continuing to make grave errors.
“It is a process. You have to give people the opportunity to apologise and prove that they are sincere. The first part is the apology and now let’s see how you conduct yourself.”
Lee played a total of 72 times for Forest between the years of 1994 and 1997. In that time he scored 12 goals for the club, with most of those appearances coming in the Premier League.
He said that exposure was what led to the mocking and some chants from the terraces. He does however look back on his achievements with fondness.
“I look back on my career with pride and joy,” he said. “It took me a long time to hang my shirts up in my house. I don’t know if that was a conscious thing but there are some impressive shirts.
“They are little reminders to me that I wore that shirt and played at a really decent level. Before I was playing for Forest, there were no pineapple chants. It was only when I got really successful and I was playing in the Premier League that Baddiel and Skinner picked up on it.”
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