Molly-Mae responds after outrage over statements on wealth inequality

The star 'acknowledges that everyone is raised in different ways and from different backgrounds'

Molly-Mae Hague has responded after causing controversy over comments she made about wealth inequality in a recent interview. On Thursday, a clip of an interview with the influencer went viral in which she said "everyone has the same 24 hours in a day" to achieve wealth and success, and that she had got to where she is today because she "worked her arse off." Now, a spokesperson for Hague, who shot to fame after appearing on Love Island in 2019, has said that Molly-Mae acknowledges that people 'are raised in different ways' and 'from different backgrounds' and that she never meant to offend. The full statement reads: "Molly did a podcast interview in December about her own rise to success. If you listen to the full conversation and interview Molly was asked about how the nature of her potential grows and how she believes in herself.

"This part of the interview was discussing time efficiency relating to success. Molly refers to a quote which says 'We all have the same 24 hours in a day as Beyonce'.

"She was discussing her own experience and how she can resonate with this specific quote. Her opinion on if you want something enough you can work hard to achieve it is how she keeps determined with her own work to achieve more in her own life."

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It continues: "Molly is not commenting on anyone else's life or personal situation she can only speak of her own experience. She acknowledges that everyone is raised in different ways and from different backgrounds but her comments here are in reference to timing, hard work and determination in her own life.

"If you listen to this interview you can see the whole conversation was about her own personal circumstances, how she has grown up and this small clip in the conversation was talking about a quote that inspires her.

https://twitter.com/PoliticsJOE_UK/status/1479027015282040844 "Social media users have shared a short snippet from this interview with words such as 'if you are homeless buy a house' and 'if you are poor be poor' these are absolutely not Molly's words, these are not Molly's thoughts and this isn't at all the meaning or thought behind that conversation." The 22-year-old, who has six million Instagram followers and 1.5 million YouTube subscribers, made the comments on the YouTube series The Diary of a CEO. The clip sparked anger online with the comments labelled as 'tone deaf' and an example of the star failing to acknowledge her privileged upbringing. Others noted that her success and fame has largely been based on a career that has involved appearing on a reality TV show and posting pictures on social media, and that perhaps this isn't an example of 'working your arse off.' As an influencer, Molly-Mae has had numerous endorsement deals and is currently the creative director of online clothing brand Pretty Little Thing (PLT), a deal rumoured to be worth £500K. PLT is owned by parent-company BooHoo Group which has been accused of “modern slavery”.