Social Leadership

This is a great declarative piece of social communications.

By this I mean, it is great to see a public sports figure take a claim to his side of the story.

In regard to a video circulated that features me in it, I want to state the following: I categorically deny any previous affiliation with Chris Bloomfield. I had never previously met Chris Bloomfield, who I understand is a former Titans udner-20s player, before Saturday, although we have mutual friends . Over the weekend I was out with a group of players and friends for some end of footy season drinks. There were some people there that I knew and some people there I didn’t know, including Chris Bloomfield who I met for the first time. As any human would do, I said hello to those I came into contact with and was friendly as normal. I understand Bloomfield filmed a few short Snapchat videos of me rapping to an Eminem song. At the time, I was not aware of this person’s history with the law and alleged bikie affiliations. I also want to make it very clear that a comment in the video which suggested I supplied Chris with a large sum of money is not true. This money was not mine. This was a prank initiated by Bloomfield and was not intended to be taken seriously. It was also not my voice shouting for a cigarette and I was not involved with any of the offensive comments subsequently added to this video.” To help put this situation into perspective, it’s important to realise that I come into contact with thousands of people during the course of a year. When I meet people in social settings, I try not to judge them by the way they look and it’s impossible for me to ask every person about their criminal records or bikie affiliations. I grew up being taught to always be polite and respectful to all people and I take my responsibility as a role model very seriously. For me, that means trying my best to not offend people and not taking part in any illegal activity. However, I cannot help how people approach or film me. It’s unfortunate this story has been blown out of proportion and if nothing else, it has reminded me of the extraordinary power of social media and how careful I need to be with people I randomly meet.

A photo posted by Jarryd Hayne (@jarrydhayne38) on Sep 13, 2016 at 12:27am PDT

Written in response to mixed media reports about the alleged poor behaviour of one of Australia’s best ever athletes, Jarryd Hayne, it showcases the power of social media for both good and bad.