5 Seconds of Summer guitarist Michael Clifford apologizes for offensive tweets from 2012
5 Seconds of Summer guitarist Michael Clifford apologizes for offensive tweets from 2012
Michael Clifford took to Twitter on Sunday to apologize for offensive tweets he allegedly wrote in 2012.
The 5 Seconds of Summer lead guitarist wrote that he was ‘a different person now’ compared to the 16-year-old who wrote the original posts.
On Tuesday, one Twitter user shared screenshots of sexist and homophobic tweets they claimed Clifford, 24, had written and eventually deleted, though he hasn’t confirmed their veracity.
Saying sorry: Michael Clifford, 24, apologized on Twitter after he was accused of allegedly writing sexist and homophobic tweets in 2012 and 2013; pictured in June 2019
Though he didn’t specifically mention the tweets, Clifford launched into an apology on Saturday on his Twitter account.
‘hi. I am so f***ing sorry for all the dumb s*** I did when I was younger,’ he began.
‘I am a different person now with a much better understanding of the world. some people have access to a digital megaphone a bit earlier than they should, unfortunately, I was one of them.’
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‘I am so sorry for hurting anyone. it was never my intention,’ he continued in a second tweet.
‘I was so naive and I am embarrassed and I am beyond sorry. I will continue to be better and I will continue to change. I never want to hurt anyone again.’
Moving on: Though he didn’t specifically mention the tweets, Clifford launched into an apology on Saturday on his Twitter account by claiming he was a ‘different person now’
The evidence: One Twitter user shared screenshots that they claimed were of misogynist and homophobic tweets from the past that Clifford had since deleted; pictured with 5SOS bandmates (L-R) Luke Hemmings, Ashton Irwin and Calum Hood
The tweets he was accused of writing included sexist and misogynist jokes about women belonging in the kitchen from 2012.
The original poster also included screenshots of homophobic tweets using the F-word to insult other users.
Another image from March appeared to be a Twitter direct message sent from the user to Clifford about the offensive tweets.
‘thank you,’ he appeared to reply. ‘Geez I’ve grown up a lot since then and apologized. Let me know if you find anything else stupid that I’ve done lol.’
In recent days, the Australian rocker had mostly devoted his Twitter feed to encouraging his fans to support the Black Lives Matter movement and retweeting activists involved in the struggle.
Growing: In recent days, the Australian rocker had mostly devoted his Twitter feed to supporting the Black Lives Matter movement; pictured in January
Cute couple: In January 2019, Clifford celebrated his engagement to the American model Crystal Leigh, 34
Michael’s band 5 Seconds of Summer originated in Sydney in 2011 and rose to fame following a tour with the pop group One Direction.
In March, the group released their fourth studio album Calm, which debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
In January 2019, Clifford celebrated his engagement to the American model Crystal Leigh, 34.
‘There aren’t enough words in the English language to describe this love or how I felt in this moment,’ Leigh captioned a photo of the two kissing by the sea from their engagement.
Lovebirds: ‘There aren’t enough words in the English language to describe this love or how I felt in this moment,’ Leigh captioned a photo of the two kissing from their engagement
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