European football giants issue apology over video ‘mocking’ TikTok influencer

Influencer Jessie Yendle was left ‘deeply shocked and hurt’ after a ‘cruel’ video featuring her was posted on the Borussia Dortmund’s TikTok account

Borussia Dortmund have issued an apology after posting a TikTok video that appeared to ridicule an influencer’s speech impediment. The clip featured Jessie Yendle from Pontypridd, Wales, who has lived with a stammer throughout her life and has amassed more than three and a half million TikTok followers through her work raising awareness of speech impediments.

In the video, she is shown struggling to pronounce as sound, with her stammer then transitioning into a dance music-backed montage of Dortmund forward Serhou Guirassy. Triathlon organisers Ironman also shared a similar video featuring Ms Yendle on their social media accounts, leaving the Welsh TikToker “deeply shocked and hurt” by what she described as “cruel and public mock[ing]”.

A representative for the content creator told the BBC: “Jessie has been deeply shocked and hurt to discover the videos shared on social media. As someone who has courageously used her platform to raise awareness about stammering, being mocked in such a cruel and public manner is not only personally distressing, but also extremely disappointing.

“Sadly, these posts only highlight just how far we still have to go in building a truly inclusive and respectful society.”

The clips shared by Dortmund and Ironman have since been removed, with the German club’s video reportedly racking up 765,000 views on TikTok before it was deleted. Both organisations have now issued apologies for their actions, with Dortmund offering to fly Ms Yendle to a Champions League fixture of her choosing, to issue an apology in person.

READ MORE: Man Utd legend Sir Alex Ferguson opens up on losing his wife and dementia fearsREAD MORE: World’s richest footballer worth billions played for Chelsea and is now set for new club

A spokesman for the eight-time German champions said: “It was absolutely not our intention to embarrass, insult, or attack anyone,” adding that the club was “deeply sorry” for posting the video online. In extending the Champions League invitation to Ms Yendle, the spokesman revealed the club wished to do so “to convince her on-site that we at Borussia Dortmund are good people”.

Ironman has also reached out to Ms Yendle – who is known online as Mimidarlingbeauty – to offer an apology, acknowledging it had made a mistake after facing widespread criticism over the video.

“We should have done proper research before jumping on what we thought was a social media trend,” the triathlon organiser admitted. “As an organisation, we care deeply about inclusion and have worked closely with athletes of all abilities.”

Ms Yendle has built a huge online fanbase through posting videos to raise awareness of her stammer and other speech impediments, with her videos regularly attracting millions of viewers. In 2021, she started setting herself public challenges, such as requesting directions from strangers and placing orders at drive-throughs, which she shared with her online followers.

She previously told the BBC how she couldn’t complete an interview for her “dream job” in London due to her stammer, explaining: “I sat in that room for 20 minutes just trying to say my name.

“They asked me to come back tomorrow, but as it was in London, I’d already booked my travel home. I had the qualifications, I’d worked really hard and I just wanted the chance but I couldn’t because of my speech. That was really hard. I’m always trying to prove myself to people because they just saw my speech and that was it, they didn’t see beyond that.”

Before finding fame on TikTok, Ms Yendle told WalesOnline about the difficulties she encountered whilst growing up with a stammer, revealing it had resulted in her being bullied and placed in bottom sets at school.

“It started when I was a child,” she said. “I couldn’t speak until I was four years old. When I was younger, I used to punch myself in the face and pull on my hair. I would just get more frustrated that I couldn’t speak.

“School was hard. I got bullied all the way through school, but the school I went to thought I was just not intelligent and put me in all the low sets. It made me feel really low about myself. The teachers would all tell my mum I would need extra help, but I was just very shy and very quiet.”

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.