Rylan Clark-Neal has spoken out, after facing a backlash for comments he made about consent in Wednesday’s (15 June) edition of ‘This Morning’.
During a segment about the University of York’s introduction of compulsory sexual consent classes for male students, Rylan suggested there should also be “compulsory alcohol classes”, adding: “This is very much a two-way street.”
His comments immediately faced a backlash on social media, which he has now addressed, issuing an apology to those who were offended by his remarks.
Writing on Twitter on Wednesday evening, he said: “I would like to acknowledge something that I said during today’s [‘This Morning’].
“I believe my comments have majorly been taken out of context and if anyone was offended by what I said I do apologise but in no way [do] I condone any sexual abuse.”
He continued: “I’m mortified that a small handful of you got that impression. Apologies if anyone was offended. I was referring to an earlier case study we didn’t actually touch on and have been very misinterpreted.”
Shortly after the broadcast, Rylan initially tried to speak out on social media, telling one Twitter user who took umbrage with his comments: “I'm simply saying alcohol plays a part as well in a lot of cases and should that also be taught.”
Katie Russell from the charity Rape Crisis previously said of Rylan’s controversial remarks: “There is no ‘two ways’ with sexual violence. The responsibility always falls with the perpetrator. What the phrase implies is that if someone is sexually assaulted while drunk that they have some responsibility, and that is categorically, legally and morally incorrect.”
‘This Morning’ airs weekdays at 10.30am on ITV.