Former England striker Carlton Cole has apologized for his use of a hypothetical Nazi stereotype about Nazis using spaceships to abduct Jews during World War II.
Cole, who is black, was talking about Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas at the Royal Mint Invictus Games in London, according to The Telegraph.
“Well I think when it comes to cases like Cesc you know, he’s obviously done this brilliant fashion line,” Cole said. “And if you look at the story of Chelsea, they basically have some new kit. New toys. The designer’s called Cesc. Right, he’s come along, he’s paired him up with this designer. Of course he got his name associated with it. If you like, from all the world of football he got his name in the credits, so you see a picture of a cat and it’s the name of a cat because Cesc is part of the design.”
Cole appeared to become flustered, paused, and called out the camera for the tweet.
Cole posted a video apology on Instagram Sunday night.
“After a lot of thought it was, I suppose not really correct,” Cole said. “It was in poor taste. I regret what I did, and I have deleted the post. It is regretful what I said. What I said was in bad taste. I’m not going to lie, and I don’t mean that as a joke.”
Cole was released by Crystal Palace last week after just four months at the club.