Matteo Berrettini insists that he doesn’t feel anything but love for LeBron James after his Instagram post was called racist
With seven titles under his belt and a Top 10 ranking, Matteo Berrettini is a tennis superstar. However, Berrettini has recently come under fire for a post praising LeBron James rather than for his skills. James was pictured wearing a Drew League jersey in the tennis player’s post, and he also included the gorilla and crown emojis.
Matteo Berrettini Apologises For Using Racist Gorilla Emoji In LeBron James Instagram Post
Naturally, social media jumped to the conclusion that the ape emoji might be perceived as a little racist. Below is the screenshot of his post shared on twitter.
He posted this… pic.twitter.com/gTeIHUimWs
— Sassy Jax 🇺🇦💙💛🇺🇦 (@SassyJaxIsBack) July 17, 2022
To retract his statement, Matteo posted an apology on social media.
He wrote, “I am deeply sorry if my earlier narrative post offended anyone. I erased it after learning that it may be easily misunderstood. My favourite athlete is Lebron. incredible inspiration and role model.” It is obvious that Berrettini did not intend to be racist given his reputation as a James supporter.
LeBron has been in the spotlight of controversy before. LeBron’s appearance on Vogue’s cover was allegedly used to mimic a King Kong billboard. Although Berrettini apologised, there is still discussion on social media about whether he ought to have, so perhaps everyone can now go on.
James was compared to Rafael Nadal by Berrettini
“Federer is similar to Michael Jordan, in my opinion. I compare Djokovic to Kobe Bryant because of the way he maintains his composure under pressure.” Berrettini, who was viewed as one of the top favourites to win Wimbledon, was unable to participate in the championship match at The All England Club.
Berrettini’s COVID-19 test resulted in a positive result on the day of his first-round match, forcing him to withdraw from the competition. Berrettini found it difficult to watch tennis on television after being forced to withdraw from Wimbledon.