The Warriors have apologised and removed a social media video after being called out by British media, which accused the team of mocking a woman’s stammer.
The short clip, used by multiple sports social media pages around the world, showed influencer and advocate for people with stammers Jessie Yendle struggling to pronounce a word before transitioning to game highlights.
German football club Borussia Dortmund and triathlon organiser Ironman also posted similar videos.
The videos were part of the “unexpected edit” trend on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, where an unrelated clip is played before a surprise transition into a player’s or team’s highlights.
In a segment on UK news show Good Morning Britain featuring Yendle, the New Zealand NRL teams was directly called out by the hosts for their use of the video.
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Yendle told the hosts she was “shocked” and “humiliated” by the use of her stammer.
“I’ve spent so many years of my life being misunderstood and judged. When I saw the video, I literally thought to myself, I’m so much more than my speech impediment.”
In a statement sent to 1News, a spokesperson for the Warriors apologised and said: “It was not the club’s intention to highlight or make fun of any one individual, or group.
“The glitch effect used in the post was a social trend which was seen around the professional sporting scene at the time.
“The post in question was deleted soon after it was published. We sincerely apologise for any offence caused.”
Yendel said she had received an apology from Ironman and offered free football tickets since the videos were removed, but had declined.
“The thing for me is that an apology was like [when] you have bad customer service somewhere. I’m thinking to myself, if you truly do care, let me come to your headquarters, and I can educate.”
Speaking directly to the camera, Yendel said she was “so proud to be someone who has a speech impediment”.
“I’ve spent my entire life with people telling me you can’t do this, and you can’t do that, and I’ll make sure that my community will never have to feel like this ever again.”
Ironman said it was “truly sorry” for the video, while Borussia Dortmund said it was “absolutely not our intention to embarrass, insult, or attack anyone”.
