Achi news desk-
Loose Women star Nadia Sawalha and her husband Mark Adderley have hit out at Rachel Riley for her ‘prompt’ apology for her comments about Sydney’s stabbing.
The Countdown star, 38, was accused of Islamophobia after she linked the terror attack carried out by Joel Cauchi, 40, who suffered from mental health problems, to a call for holy rebellion in a now-deleted tweet. .
After facing calls to be sacked by Channel 4, Riley later said ‘sorry’ if her message had been ‘misunderstood’ on the social media site.
Reflecting on Riley’s apology, Sawalha, 59, said on her YouTube channel that she shared Coffee Moanings with husband Mark: ‘It wasn’t really an apology.’
Adderley agreed with Sawalha and described him as ‘tight-lipped’ over ‘racial conflation’.
He also said the fallout from Riley’s tweet had ‘hijacked’ the ‘real trauma’ in Sydney in a campaign that killed six people.
Summing up the fury, Adderley said in the video: ‘The woman who makes numbers she connects [the Sydney stabbing] to Islamic terrorist extremism. He suggested it was a terrorist attack.’
He continued: ‘It was an uproar combining unrelated things in a desire to suggest that there is some kind of irrational hatred at the heart of any support for Palestine.’
Sawalha pointed out that Riley has a strong presence on social media, including nearly 700K followers on X, and said that spreading his message was ‘irresponsible.’
She continued: ‘These tweets are on fire and then shared and shared again, and then shared again. And so it is irresponsible.’
In her statement of apology, Riley said it was her ‘intention not to say that this attack was motivated by any ideology or linked to Islamic extremism.’
‘My aim was to draw attention to the weekly calls for “intifada” being tolerated in London and around the world, which in reality means violence on our streets.
‘For 6 months now, I have avoided taking the tube, or taking my children anywhere near the marches every Saturday, and every week we see the extreme chants proudly displayed without much wildness.’
‘Unfortunately, the type of attack seen in Sydney yesterday is exactly the type of violence that the previous intifada was part of and I hope to avoid it in the future, but in my opinion we will not ignore the problem makes her disappear,’ Riley continued.
‘Attacks on Jews have recently been repackaged as “resistance” in some circles, and we should in one voice condemn all acts of violence, whoever the perpetrators and whoever the victims are.
‘I’m sorry if this message was misunderstood, that was not my intention.’
He later posted a second statement after thinking about it ‘all day’.
‘I am sorry to those I offended. My post was ambiguous and although it was really designed to call for violence, it wasn’t the right place or time which made it easier to misinterpret, and I apologise,’ he began.
‘I know vibes aren’t popular online, and although I’m sure many of the people calling this out are the same people who have been trying to shut me up or fired for the 6 last years, would be happy. join the calls for violence against their enemies, I’m sure there are also those who don’t fall into that camp, and it’s them I’m writing this now.
I too have been the subject of an attack in recent months and a Muslim woman and her husband came to see if I was alright afterwards. I am grateful to them and wish to undo any offense caused to the community.’
The original tweet sparked mass outrage on social media with many calling on Channel 4 to sack her.
Asked for comment about Riley’s comments, a Channel 4 spokesperson said: ‘We have reminded Rachel of her obligations as a contributor to Channel 4 programmes.’
Riley’s original tweet said: “For 6 months now, people have been out on our streets proudly calling for the “Intifada Revolution.”
‘If you want to know what a “Globalised Intifada” looks like, see the Sydney Mall.
5 victims were stabbed to death and 8 were transferred to hospital, including a baby, because of one man and a knife.
‘In the second intifada over 1,000 Israelis were murdered in restaurants, on buses and in the streets by suicide bombs, stabbings, stonings, lynchings, shooting rockets. The youngest victim was only 9 hours old.
‘Sydney Mall, many times over is what they have been calling for with pride.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Riley’s representatives for comment.
Do you have a story?
If you have a story, video or celebrity photos, please contact us The Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us at [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Rachel Riley’s replacement on Countdown has all been replaced after Sydney’s ‘misunderstood’ stabbing tweet
MORE: Channel 4 takes action after calls to sack Rachel Riley for ‘Islamophobic’ comment
MORE : The star says competing on the BBC series left her with PTSD
