Bollywood actress and Arsenal supporter Esha Gupta, who faced anger on social media for making racist remarks against Alexander Iwobi, has penned an apology letter to the Nigerian footballer.
Esha wrote: "I am extremely sorry for my ignorant action last Friday. Being an ardent fan of many years, I was deeply engrossed and caught up in the game."
She said she "clearly did not realise the racial undertone" from her friend's message, which she had shared on Instagram last week.
"For this, I am deeply regretful. I cannot begin to imagine how much I have hurt your sentiments. Racism has absolutely no place in my heart, and I promise you, for whatever it's worth, going forward this will never happen again," she said.
It was us discussing our frustration during the game.sorry as I din realise it directed towards racism.laughed over the spur of the moment, which was the games result guys.been victim of racism myself before. But this is not something m proud of. It was a fault,sorry guys
— Esha Gupta (@eshagupta2811) January 27, 2019
Guys m sorry you thought it was racist. Was bad on my part, being a sports lover. Wallah never meant it. Sorry guys forgive the stupidity 🙏🏽 #gooner4life
— Esha Gupta (@eshagupta2811) January 27, 2019
Esha wished Iwobi forgives her for her "careless action".
She even wrote a letter to the Arsenal Football Club, wherein she wrote: "I hope the club can accept my humblest apology and give me the opportunity to make amends. I promise to be very responsible from here on."
On January 28, social media was abuzz over a snapshot of a Whatsapp conversation that Esha shared on her Instagram stories. The conversation criticised Iwobi for his performance.
In the conversation, Esha's friend called Iwobi a "gorilla" and said that "evolution stopped for him". He even said that the footballer did not change from "neanderthal to man".
To that, Esha laughed and replied: "Haha... I don't know why they don't bench him more."
She quickly deleted the image from her profile when she realised her mistake, but the screenshot had already gone viral.
This did not go down well with some users, who slammed her for her "ignorance" and called her out for being racist despite having claimed she herself has been a victim in the past.