4-minute read
Dermot Feenan
LLB MA LLM Barrister-at-Law FRSA
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The following letter was sent on 11 June 2019 to Ivan Menezes, Chief Executive, Diageo, one of the sponsors (through its product Guinness) of London Irish rugby club, raising concerns about the company’s continued sponsorship of the club in view of the recent signing of Paddy Jackson to the club.
On 13 June 2019, Diageo announced: “We have met with the club to express our concerns. Their recent decision is not consistent with our values and so we have ended our sponsorship.”
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By email and first class special delivery
Ivan Menezes
Chief Executive
Diageo plc
Lakeside Drive
Park Royal
London
NW10 7HQ
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11 June 2019
Dear Mr Menezes,
I am writing to convey my serious concern that Diageo might continue, through its product brand Guinness, to sponsor the rugby club London Irish after the announcement on 7 May 2019 of the signing of Mr Paddy Jackson to the club. I set out the basis for my concern in this letter. Until such time as I am assured that Guinness will no longer be associated with London Irish while Mr Jackson remains on this current signing, I am boycotting all Diageo products and advising others to do so.
Paddy Jackson, played rugby for Ulster and Ireland. In 2018, he was a defendant in a criminal trial for rape and sexual assault. Although he was acquitted, denying both offences, he was a party to communications about the female complainant in that trial and women generally which gave rise to widespread concerns, leading ultimately to his loss of employment with Ulster Rugby and the Irish Rugby Football Federation. These communications were admitted in evidence at the trial.
Mr Jackson was a member of the WhatsApp group called ‘JACOME’, which included, but was not limited to, Mr Stuart Olding and Mr Blain McIlroy – also defendants in the trial.
Mr Olding, one of Mr Jackson’s teammates, was charged and acquitted of rape in the same trial. Mr McIlroy was charged and acquitted of exposing himself in that trial. Mr Olding messaged in the JACOME WhatsApp group the morning after the party at which the rape and other offences were alleged to have occurred: “We are all top shaggers” and “There was a bit of spit roasting going on last night fellas”. Mr Jackson replied: “There was a lot of spit roast last night”.
Mr Jackson posted photos to the group which had been taken at the party. One image showed Mr McIlroy on a sofa with three young women. A friend asked: “Who are they, brassers?”
‘Brassers’ is slang for loose women or prostitutes.
Mr McIlroy responded: “Aye”. Another member of the group replied: “Fucking Fantastic”. McIlroy replied: “Just a sample of how loose JACOME will be”.
A member of the WhatsApp group, referred to as AA, messaged at 1.45pm: “Boys, did you pass spit roast brasses [sic]?”
At no point did [Mr] Jackson intervene to challenge other members of the group on the use of the word “brassers” or otherwise.
Mr Jackson reportedly stated in court in response to questioning about the complainant’s evidence that she had been distressed when she left his house on the night of the alleged offences: ” The last thing I would want is a girl crying and leaving my house […] I would have gone to help her. If I had known she was upset, I would have tried to contact her.”
Immediately after his acquittal, Mr Jackson did not respond to the evidence of the complainant’s distress.
Mr Olding did, however, apologise for the hurt caused to the woman in a statement read outside the court after his acquittal. He said: “I want to acknowledge that the complainant came to court and gave evidence about her perception of those events. I am sorry for the hurt that was caused to the complainant. It was never my intention to cause any upset to anyone on that night. I don’t agree with her perception of events and I maintain that everything that happened that evening was consensual.”
Early in the morning of 6 April 2018 the Belfast Telegraph newspaper published an ad paid for by 139 “concerned fans” of the IRFU and Ulster rugby. It included the statement: “The content of the social media exchanges involving Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding was reprehensible. Such behaviour falls far beneath the standards that your organisations represent and as such we demand that neither of these men represents Ulster or Ireland now or at any point in the future.”
Mr Jackson issued a statement on 6 April 2018, first reported at 1.41pm on BBC News NI, in which he apologised ‘unreservedly’ for “degrading and offensive” WhatsApp conversations about the incident. He stated that public criticism of his behaviour was “fully justified” and he had “betrayed the values of my family and those of the wider public”.
Mr Jackson’s apology was not issued until nine days after the trial ended.
On 14 April [2018], the IRFU and Ulster Rugby stated that “following a review” they “have revoked the contracts” of Mr Jackson and Mr Olding “with immediate effect”. It added: “In arriving at this decision, [we] acknowledge our responsibility and commitment to the core values of the game: Respect, Inclusivity and Integrity.”
acknowledge our responsibility and commitment to the core values of the game: Respect, Inclusivity and Integrity.”
It is troubling that in the wake of the acquittals of Mr Jackson and Mr Olding, a photograph appeared of two players from Malone Rugby Football Club wearing names ‘Stuart Olding’ and ‘Paddy Jackson’ respectively with a trophy between their groins. The photograph was taken in the changing rooms of Kingspan Stadium, the home of Ulster Rugby, after Malone won the McCrea Cup.
The trophy is held horizontally, its neck and base opening directly in front of the groin of each man respectively. In view of the widely-reported messages at trial regarding ‘spit-roasting’, the image mimics and valorises Mr Olding and Mr Jackson. It suggests that Mr Olding and Mr Jackson got their ‘trophy’ that night – with all its equally problematic connotations.
Mr Jackson has previously engaged in other problematic behaviour. In 2012, at a time when he was playing for Ireland and Ulster, he was caught on camera with other Ulster Rugby players posing ‘blacked up’, apparently as a slave as part of an “Olympic-themed fancy dress party”. Then, Ulster Rugby apologised “unreservedly for any offense”. It added: “it was not the intention of the players to cause upset”. I have found no report of Ulster Rugby taking any disciplinary action against Mr Jackson or other players. I have found no evidence that Mr Jackson apologised for this conduct.
A survey in Ireland by Amarach Research reported on 9 April [2018] that 55% of people would not like to see Mr Jackson and Mr Olding play for Ireland again. Only 26% said they would like to see them do so.
Following rumours that month that English rugby club Sales Sharks were ready to sign Mr Jackson and Mr Olding, local MP Barbara Keeley stated that it would send “entirely the wrong signal to fans and to the local community.”
I have no personal agenda in raising these concerns. I do have serious concerns about the above-referenced conduct being inconsistent with the values of Diageo and brand image of Guinness.
Diageo states that its sees among its priorities in its role within society being “passionate advocates in areas including […] women’s empowerment”. Mr Jackson was a party to group communication which objectified and degraded women. Diageo’s Chief HR Officer, Mairéad Nayager and Hina Nagarajan, Managing Director, Africa Emerging Markets, were recognised in this year’s INvolve EMpower Ethnic Minority Role Model Lists, for their efforts to champion inclusivity of ethnic minorities within the business and beyond. Mr Jackson’s ‘blackface’ conduct is also absolutely inconsistent with Diageo’s commitments to inclusivity.
I strongly recommend that Diageo conduct due diligence in researching Mr Jackson and consider the relevance of its findings to the company’s decision as to whether to continue sponsorship of London Irish.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Dermot Feenan
cc.
Mick Crossan
London Irish Rugby Football Club
Hazelwood
Hazelwood Drive
Sunbury-on-Thames
Middlesex
TW16 6QU
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© Dermot Feenan 2019