Less than a month after soccer star Jorginho Frello slammed a security guard he believed worked for Chappell Roan for “extremely aggressive” behavior towards his 11-year-old daughter, Frello is sharing that “new information” has changed his “understanding of parts of what happened” and that he now believes the situation to be “closed.”
On March 21, Frello said that while attending Lollapalooza Brazil, his 11-year-old daughter spotted the “artist she really admires, or used to admire,” tagging Roan twice in his initial Instagram Stories post, during breakfast at their hotel and walked past the artist’s table to make sure it was her.
Frello did not name which of his children he was referring to but his wife, Catherine Harding, shares an 11-year-old daughter, Ada, with Jude Law.
“She didn’t even approach her,” Frello wrote at the time. “She simply walked past the singer’s table, looked to confirm it was her, smiled, and went back to sit with her mum. She didn’t say anything, didn’t ask for anything.”
What happened next, Frello said, was “completely disproportionate” as a “large security guard” came over to their table and addressed his wife and daughter in an “extremely aggressive manner,” adding that his wife, “shouldn’t allow my daughter to ‘disrespect’ or ‘harass’ other people.”
Frello went on to criticize the artist after the incident left his daughter in tears.
“I’ve lived with football, public exposure, and well-known people for many years, and I understand very well what respect and boundaries are. What happened there was not that. It was just a child admiring someone,” he wrote. “It’s sad to see this kind of treatment coming from those who should understand the importance of fans. At the end of the day, they are the ones who build all of this. I sincerely hope this serves as a moment of reflection. No one should have to go through this, especially not a child.”
In closing, tagging Roan’s Instagram account, he wrote, “WITHOUT YOUR FANS, YOU WOULD BE NOTHING. AND TO THE FANS, SHE DOES NOT DESERVE YOUR AFFECTION.”
Roan responded to the incident the next day, insisting the guard was not her “personal security,” who she didn’t ask to confront the mother and daughter, and Roan said she didn’t even notice them.
“They did not come up to me. They weren’t doing anything. It’s unfair for security to just assume someone doesn’t have good intentions when they have no reason to believe, because there’s no action even taken,” she explained in a video. “I do not hate people who are fans of my music. I do not hate children. Like, that is crazy. I’m sorry to the mother and child that someone was assuming something that you would do something and that if you felt uncomfortable, that makes me really sad. You did not deserve that.
Now, while Frello maintains that “the situation did occur as it was originally described,” he indicates his response was driven more by his protective instinct as a father. His initial statement, he writes on his Instagram Stories on Monday, came about “in the heat of the moment, after hearing that my child and wife had been approached by an adult male security guard in an intimidating way … My priority is, and always will be, protecting my family, and that is exactly what I did.”
Saying the guard “has since confirmed publicly that he was representing another artist at the hotel at the time,” Frello adds it’s now clear that the guard wasn’t acting on Roan’s behalf.
Frello said the incident was a “misunderstanding” and he’s “glad to set the record straight.”
“It’s important to me that this is clarified fairly and accurately,” he said. “I regret the impact this situation has had on Chappell Roan, Catherine, Ada and our family.”
Frello also shared that Roan reached out to his wife “privately” and both sides’ teams “spoke directly.” The artist, he said was “understanding and sympathetic” and he says based on the conversations with Roan’s team, it “became clear that she had no knowledge of what took place at breakfast and had not asked anyone to approach them.”
In conclusion, he said he does “not support or encourage hate speech or online attacks from any side” and stressed the values of “respect, empathy and humility … As far as I am concerned, this matter is closed.”
