Kellie Harrington has said she is "all about community, inclusion and diversity" following an interview where she was questioned about her thoughts on immigration.
She issued a statement late tonight after a video was shared by Off The Ball of the interview in which she was claimed she was "hung out to dry". Journalist Shane Hannon had asked her about a tweet last October in which she shared a video about the death of a 12-year-old French girl with quotes from GB News.
In response to the question Katie had said she felt she was being "hung out to dry" and after being pushed for an answer she responded: "If you're not hanging me out to dry, let it go, move on. Be like Elsa and just let it go. Do you know what I mean? Don't hold it back anymore and just let it go."
Read more: Kellie Harrington deletes 'immigrants' tweet following death of 12-year-old girl in France
Now she has issued a statement in response and said she "does not want to engage in politically sensitive matters". She had come under criticism on comments underneath the video of the interview which was being held in support of a Spar community campaign.
The statement said: "Last October, I reposted a tweet of a video from a journalist (whom I did not know at the time) detailing the story of a young girl in France who was kidnapped and murdered. Moved by the horrific circumstances at this story, I reposted a video of this journalist together with a copy of a quote. My thoughts in that moment were of that young girl and not any political opinion.
"Having realised the significance of my tweet and the hurt it caused to a number of people I immediately deleted the tweet. I engaged privately with a number of people who were hurt by my tweet and I apologised to them.
"As a sporting role model, I am aware that I need to be mindful of what I do and say. I reacted with my emotions and without the facts. How this came across was not reflective of me as a person or my thoughts.
"I did an interview today during which I was caught off guard. I was not prepared for a question unrelated to sport and my response to the question asked was not definitive.
"I do not want to engage in politically sensitive matters.
Read more: Kellie Harrington laughs off disastrous walk home after bird leaves its mark
"What I want to make clear is, throughout my life in both boxing & outside boxing, I have been lucky enough to have had many multicultural influences and this continues to shape me to this day. This is something that shapes me as the person I am today and something I am very grateful for. The people closest to me will attest to this.
"Since the interview, I have seen some comments that I feel I should address and make my feelings and thoughts clear. As a sportswomen [sic] I am proud to say I am all about community, inclusion and diversity."
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