‘I stand by what I said’: Garron Noone reactivates social media accounts
TikTok comedian Garron Noone has reactivated his social media accounts following an online backlash to a video he posted about immigration in Ireland.
A popular content creator from Co Mayo, Noone became a social media sensation with his sketches and catchphrase "follow me, I'm delicious". He normally discusses light topics in his videos.
However, last week Noone said he had been asked to discuss immigration by his followers after Conor McGregor's controversial White House meeting with Donald Trump.
Noone told his followers that "there absolutely is an immigration issue in Ireland".
"That doesn’t mean that people feel like we shouldn’t take the refugees that we’re able to take. It doesn’t mean that people feel like people shouldn’t be able to come here for better opportunities," he said.
He followed up these comments by claiming that "our towns and especially our cities are becoming much less safe".
Noone received a lot of criticism over the video, while others defended him.
In a follow-up post, the comedian defended his comments, saying he was not anti-immigration and denouncing the far-right and extremism. He also said people should be able to express their views on immigration.
Noone then deactivated his accounts where he has sizeable followings, including 1.7 million people on TikTok alone.
On Monday evening, Noone reactivated his TikTok and Instagram accounts and posted a video with the caption: "I stand by what I said in my first video, this video will clarify any points I’ve seen that were taken up differently to how I meant them, and this will be my last word on it."
Noone thanked his supporters and stressed he was not anti-immigration, though he could have better communicated the points he made in the original video.
He said people "should be able to have conversations about these things".
Noone said a number of points he made in his initial video were "too vague" and "open to interpretation".
"I have a very large platform, and the things I say get out to a lot of people, and if they’re poorly communicated, people absolutely should criticise me now, and they should criticise me in the future for that," he said.
