Reality TV star and radio personality Abbie Chatfield has issued a lengthy apology just days after her boyfriend Keli Holiday was detained in the United States. Holiday was attempting to return to the US after his show in Toronto but was denied entry at the Canada-US border, forcing him to cancel his New York performance. He is reportedly back in Australia and has not confirmed the reason for his refusal of entry.
Apology for Resurfaced Video
In a post shared to Instagram on Monday night, Chatfield apologised for a resurfaced clip of herself that she believes has been “misunderstood and exaggerated.” In the video in question, Chatfield made comments about Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“A video that I posted a year ago has come back to haunt me, essentially,” Chatfield said. “And I honestly think that I should address it and apologise for it.” She argued her original, now-deleted post was meant to be a critique of “incels” and not an attempt to encourage this kind of violence. Although she did not directly name Donald Trump in the video, she said she regretted that her comments had been “misinterpreted” as a call to harm the US president.
“Now this has been taken, and people have said that I’ve called for the assassination of Trump,” Chatfield said. “I do not want that to happen. I want to be clear. I do not believe that political assassinations are positive for anybody. But I disagree with Trump’s policy, his views, all of these things, right? But I never said his name in this video. I never said it was about him. I never called for the assassination of him.”
Context of the Video
She went on to explain that the video was meant to be about “incels” and their “bizarre” reaction to Mangione, whose case sparked a controversial debate between condemning violence and admiring him as a vigilante. “It was just a really stupid video,” Chatfield said. “I was not trying to encourage, genuinely encourage violence. This has now been misinterpreted. And I understand why, I totally get why, but I really want to apologise for it because it’s not appropriate to make jokes like this.”
Chatfield made it clear she regretted the comments and wanted to say sorry to anyone who was offended. “I did not encourage people to do that to President Trump. That was not the intention,” she said. “It was not a good intention. It was to laugh at incels and the violence of incels essentially, and the desperation of incels. That’s still not a good intention. But I just wanted to clarify that.”
Boyfriend’s Detention
Chatfield also clarified in the caption that Holiday had no knowledge of the old video. “I also want to make it clear Adam hadn’t even seen this video, so any vitriol toward him is unwarranted,” she said. Holiday, Chatfield’s boyfriend of two years, was forced to cancel his New York show after being refused entry back into the US during his North American tour. The Australian singer, whose real name is Adam Hyde, was halfway through his tour when he was stopped at the US-Canadian border following a performance in Toronto. Holiday said he was “detained” before being denied re-entry into the US.
The singer confirmed the news on Instagram, revealing he was still trying to get “clarity” on the decision. Australian citizens travelling to the US must have a valid passport and an approved ESTA (for stays under 90 days) or a visa. According to Smartraveller, strict entry requirements now apply when visiting the US, including potential mandatory social media disclosure and the long-term retention of personal data by authorities. Holiday has yet to confirm the official reason for his refusal of entry. 7NEWS.com.au has reached out to Holiday’s management team for comment.
