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24th Dec 2018

Lord Sugar called out for “discrimination” after tweet about “puffs”

Lord Sugar has been accused of making discriminatory remarks after posting a tweet about 'puffs', but claims the word alludes to people 'full of hot air'

Reuben Pinder

“I have enough puffs who come through my boardroom”

Lord Sugar has been accused of discrimination after posting a tweet about “puffs”.

A Twitter user, Laura Thompson, sent the Apprentice host a photoshopped picture of him super-imposed onto a box of Sugar Puffs, saying “I found your next business venture” – a play on his surname.

Lord Sugar responded by quoting the tweet, commenting: “hah…… I have enough puff s who come through my boardroom.”

Sugar has been called out for the tweet, with many accusing him of making discriminatory remarks.

Sugar has received criticism this year from the only openly gay contestant of this Apprentice season, Frank Brooks, after he was described as “emotional” in the boardroom. Many tweeters believe Sugar used the word “puff” as a deliberate play on the term “poof,” a homophobic slur in Britain and many other countries.

Football writer Daniel Storey cited Sugar’s last episode of controversy on Twitter, when he compared the Senegal football team to ‘guys from the beach in Marbella’.

Sugar eventually deleted the tweet after he was accused of racism despite initially defending it.

https://twitter.com/JackDunc1/status/1077209173895667712

https://twitter.com/SalmanSamiAli/status/1077188206435749888

Sugar claimed his remark alluded to people being ‘full of hot air’, not everyone was convinced.

Sugar revealed in a later tweet that he told The Sun newspaper to ‘p*ss off’ when asked for comment on the tweet.