Matt Le Tissier has once again spoken out against what he describes as 'wokeism' and cancel culture, reiterating his belief that his personal views led to his dismissal from Sky Sports. The former Southampton midfielder was let go by the broadcaster in 2020 after expressing his opinions on the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Le Tissier's Controversial Views
The 57-year-old has previously stated that he was merely 'questioning the narrative' surrounding Covid-19 through his social media activity. In 2022, he retweeted a post suggesting that the Bucha massacre in Ukraine was staged, an action that resulted in Southampton stripping him of his ambassadorial role.
Le Tissier continues to share alternative viewpoints, with a recent exchange with X's AI bot Grok about 'chemtrails' going viral. Despite being labelled a conspiracy theorist by some, he has been welcomed back by Southampton and continues to work on the after-dinner speaking circuit.
No Regrets, but Lingering Irritation
While Le Tissier insists he harbours no regrets over his departure from Sky Sports, where he was a regular on Soccer Saturday, the circumstances still clearly rankle him. 'I’ve always been fairly opinionated. I’ve always kind of been my own man and able to make my own decisions and have my own thoughts,' he told The Telegraph. 'And it’s costly. It cost me my job at Sky and anyone who tries to tell you different doesn’t really know what they’re talking about. But I’d do the same again.'
He added: 'There aren’t many things I’ve regretted. We’re all human and we all make mistakes. You apologise, you correct it and you move on. If you’re on the government side and you f*** up, that’s fine. But on the side I was sat, nobody will accept your apology. You’re cancelled.'
Cancel Culture and After-Dinner Speaking
Le Tissier expressed frustration that his views on Covid and Black Lives Matter led to attempts to have him cancelled from after-dinner speaking engagements. 'I’m quite happy plodding along. I do my after-dinner speaking, which I’ve done for the last 20-odd years since I retired, although a few years ago people were trying to get me cancelled from jobs there. Because I said something about Covid or Black Lives Matter they didn’t think that I should be able to have a job speaking at football clubs about my football career. That’s cancel culture.'
Reflecting on his departure in 2022, Le Tissier said: 'I went into working in the media from 2002 onwards until late August 2020, which was an interesting scenario where I lost my job. Obviously the pandemic started in 2020 in March - and very early on in that I had my doubts as to what was really going on. I felt early on there was a massive overreaction to it by the governments. And that's where it all started for me with questioning the narrative and probably ended up with me losing my job at Sky.'
No Return to Mainstream TV
Le Tissier now tours with former Sky co-stars Charlie Nicholas, Phil Thompson, Jeff Stelling and Paul Merson, and acknowledges there is no chance of a return to mainstream television. 'I’ll never work in television again in terms of mainstream stuff,' he admitted. 'That doesn’t bother me.'
