On Christmas Day, Lewis Hamilton found himself in the middle of a social media controversy.
In a video uploaded to his Instagram Stories, the F1 champion filmed his young nephew wearing a Disney-style princess dress that he’d presumedly asked for for Christmas. Hamilton is heard chastising him, saying: “Why did you ask for a princess dress for Christmas? Boys don’t wear princess dresses!”
Oh dear Lewis. You’ve just opened a can of worms… pic.twitter.com/fpsiNeOZrd
— Nabeela (@JustNabz) December 25, 2017
After the video was uploaded onto Twitter, Hamilton was accused of ‘gender-shaming’ his young relative – if a young boy wants to wear a dress, then there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. While it was probably meant in jest, many have found the reaction totally unnecessary, and even damaging.
Boys can wear them if they want! U are just setting up the next generation for a hateful, non-accepting, future🙄🙄🙄!!
— Zoe (@Pengtingunicorn) December 26, 2017
Boys can wear them if they want! U are just setting up the next generation for a hateful, non-accepting, future🙄🙄🙄!!
— Zoe (@Pengtingunicorn) December 26, 2017
Now however Hamilton has issued an apology for his comments on Twitter, saying “I love that my nephew feels free to express himself as we all should.”
https://twitter.com/LewisHamilton/status/945718243511144448
