Jermaine Defoe has blasted cancel culture after the recent Jermaine Jenas scandal that saw the former midfielder axed by the BBC.
The 41-year-old was sacked following complaints of inappropriate behaviour, with the ex-England international then apologising for his actions.
Jenas is currently working to repair his marriage to wife Ellie Penfold, having admitted she was left ‘raging’ with his behaviour.
He always insists text messages sent by himself to two members of staff were consensual, though the women in question claim they were unsolicited.
Jermaine Defoe has blasted cancel culture after the recent Jermaine Jenas scandal that saw the former midfielder axed by the BBC
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Defoe and Jenas previously played together at Tottenham.
And Defoe has now launched a passionate defence of his former team-mate, while also blasting cancel culture.
“We all make mistakes,” the former Tottenham, West Ham, Portsmouth, Sunderland and Rangers star told the Daily Mail.
“But in society nowadays, someone does something and they get cancelled.”
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Defoe then accused bigwigs of having double standards.
The former striker feels it is far tougher for black people to get a second chance after making mistakes compared to ‘someone else’. There is nothing to substantiate his claims.
He continued: “He’s [Jenas is] my friend.
“What I don’t like is if you’re black and you do something wrong, any opportunities that you have will be gone.
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“But if you’re someone else, you’ll find ways to get back in.”
Jenas’ time with the BBC appears to be over. Though he’s admitted to making mistakes, he was unhappy at how he was treated as the process plays out.
For starters, he tried to contact the women he sent text messages to – only for the Beeb to deny him the chance to directly apologise.
News of the scandal also broke while Jenas was live on air, with the former England star speaking to talkSPORT at the time.
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Jermaine Jenas and Jermaine Defoe were previously team-mates at Tottenham
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His time in television may not be completely over, however, amid reports saying TNT Sports may offer him a lifeline.
Jenas still has TNT Sports in his Instagram bio, having previously removed the BBC in the wake of his departure.
He recently returned to social media and thanked fans for their support, saying: “I just thought it was important for me to jump on here actually and just talk to you lot and say thank you for the level of support that you’ve shown me.
“It’s clearly been a difficult period for me but one I will definitely grow from.
Jermaine Jenas is working hard to repair his marriage to Ellie Penfold after the scandal that saw him sacked by the BBC
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“We’re human beings, it is what it is, you’ll learn from it. Become a better person. I think those are the things that are important in life.
“None of us are perfect and we’ve just got to find a way to just keep moving forward, look after our babies and our families in the best way we possibly can and that’s something I will be trying to do.”
Jenas then teased an upcoming project, adding: “There’s some exciting stuff that I’ve been working on so hopefully you’ll all have that to look forward to very soon.
“And also hopefully I’ll just be back talking about what I love really which is football.”
