NRL player Jarrod Wallace has issued a public apology after an Instagram post he made about his fianceé sparked uproar on social media.
The Dolphins player upset fans on Sunday when he uploaded a photo of himself and his pregnant partner, Shannon Wells, with the caption, “You look real good cooking our little boy, but even better when you’re washing my clothes.”
The original caption caused swift backlash and Wallace was quick to delete it, labelling it as an “inside joke”.
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“Take 2 – my beautiful fiancée looking gorgeous while cooking our baby boy,’ he captioned the new post. “Also, for anyone concerned about my first post, it was an inside joke between us.”
Fans were still quick to disagree, with some commenters telling Wallace to keep the inside joke between the couple. Comments on the post have since been turned off.
“Usually if you’re a public figure, you’d think about what you’re typing before you post it,” one Instagram user commented.
“Sometimes it’s best to keep an inside joke, inside,” another person said.
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Wallace’s fiancée Shannon Wells also commented, thanking Wallace for doing the washing “along with everything else” when she’s nauseous.
On Monday night, Wallace too to his Instagram Story to address the controversy, apologising for the mishap.
“I am sorry to anyone who possibly took offence to an innocent inside joke between my fiancée and I,” Wallace said. “I now know that I need to better elaborate any posts with intended humour in the future.”
“I am proud dad and step-dad to four beautiful little girls and would never want anyone to have the opinion I am sexist or promoting sexism as a public figure.”
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“My fiancée is the heart of our home and goes above for me and the girls, I love and respect her more than you can imagine.”
Wallace stated the controversial comment shouldn’t be cause for strangers to send threatening messages, saying the couple had been receiving threats.
“Misinterpretation of an inside joke does not give strangers permission to send threatening messages to myself or Shannon, threatening the wellbeing of our daughters and unborn child,” Wallace said.
“Those matters will now be dealt with legally.”
Wallace’s Dolphins representative declined to comment further on the matter when contacted by 9Honey Celebrity.
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