Ben Stokes has fired back at a story written by The Sun by labelling it “disgusting” and “immoral”.
In a statement on Twitter on Tuesday, Stokes said the paper’s decision to publish the story would have “grave and lifelong consequences” for his mother, in particular. He claimed the story, which was also picked up by Mail Online, contained a number of serious inaccuracies.
“Today the Sun has seen fit to publish extremely painful, sensitive and personal details concerning events in the private lives of my family, going back more than 31 years,” he wrote. “It is hard to find words that adequately describe such low and despicable behaviour, disguised as journalism. I cannot conceive of anything more immoral, heartless or contemptuous to the feelings and circumstances of my family.”
Stokes criticised the article as “the lowest form of journalism, focused only on chasing sales” and asked people to respect his family’s privacy and right to home life. “To use my name as an excuse to shatter the privacy and private lives of – in particular – my parents is utterly disgusting,” he wrote.
Tom Harrison, the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive, also condemned the decision to publish the article.
“We, like the wider sporting world, are disgusted and appalled at the actions taken in revealing the tragic events from Ben’s past. We are saddened that an intrusion of this magnitude was deemed necessary in order to sell newspapers or secure clicks,” he said.
“Ben’s exploits this summer have cemented his place in cricket’s history. We are sure the whole sport, and the country, stands behind him in support.”
The article described in detail events in New Zealand 31 years ago, before he was born, when his mother’s ex-husband killed their two children before taking his own life.
A spokeswoman for the Sun said: “The Sun has the utmost sympathy for Ben Stokes and his mother but it is only right to point out the story was told with the cooperation of a family member who supplied details, provided photographs and posed for pictures. The tragedy is also a matter of public record and was the subject of extensive front-page publicity in New Zealand at the time.
“The Sun has huge admiration for Ben Stokes and we were delighted to celebrate his sporting heroics this summer. He was contacted prior to publication and at no stage did he or his representatives ask us not to publish the story.”
