“I’d go on these girls’ accounts who have sent me stuff and they’re literally like 13, 14, and it’s so sad.”
Jack Grealish’s girlfriend has spoken out about the abuse she received on social media during Euro 2020, saying that she would get 200 death threats a day.
Sasha Attwood, whose partner became a poster boy during the tournament, said she was sent messages such as, “I hope you get cancer and die” and “I hope your whole family die.”
The 25-year-old slammed social media as “toxic” and revealed that some of the abuse she received were from girls who seemed to be as young as 13.
Speaking on her YouTube channel, Attwood said: “This whole thing since it’s come out has just shown me that people are literally so mean.
“Genuinely, I was receiving, like, 200 death threats a day. I’m not even exaggerating when I say that.”
Attwood continued: “So many messages, every single day, and I still get them now, all day every day: ‘I hope you die’, ‘I hope you get cancer and die’, ‘I hope your whole family die’, ‘I hope the next time when you’re in the car you crash it and die’, ‘I hope after Wembley you die.’
“I never realised how bad it actually was, and the scary thing is its young girls.
“I’d go on these girls’ accounts who have sent me stuff and they’re literally like 13, 14, and it’s so sad.
“I try and put it down to age, but then I think I was never like that at that age. I never sent a message like that.
“I just think it’s so toxic, social media, and it’s really sad that these generations are growing up thinking that it’s OK to say things like that.”
Attwood said the championship, that led to England players being racially abused after they lost a penalty shoot-out to Italy, had “obviously blown things up” but she “never thought in a million years it would ever be this bad.”
Related links
• Portsmouth sack three players for racist messages about Rashford, Sancho and Saka
• Facebook and Twitter provide police with details of racists who abused England footballers
• Four arrested over online racist abuse of Rashford, Sancho and Saka
“It just kind of blows my mind how nasty people can be for no reason whatsoever,” she said.
“I’ve always been quite a strong person, I’ve always been very good at blocking out people’s opinions. But it’s on a whole other level.”
Helpful links:
- Bullying UK (part of Family Lives): www.bullying.co.uk/cyberbullying
- National Bullying Helpline: www.nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk 0845 22 55 787 / 07734 701221
- Childline: www.childline.org.uk 0800 1111
