Lee Ryan ‘assaulted by passenger’ on flight over ‘culturally insensitive’ mistake

Lee Ryan, of the boy band Blue, was allegedly assaulted by a passenger whereas on a Turkish Airlines flight on Saturday (8 July).

The singer was allegedly attacked in the course of the flight from Georgia to Istanbul after he “put his feet” on a seat and was “defended” by the opposite members of the band.

Ryan, 40, sustained an harm to his leg after the passenger allegedly “pushed him down a flight of stairs” after the airplane landed, the band stated in an announcement.

The assertion, posted to the band’s official Instagram account, learn: “While on a flight from Georgia to Istanbul, Turkey, with Turkish Airlines today (Saturday 8 July 2023), Lee Ryan was physically assaulted by a male passenger.

“Lee and the rest of the band defended him from the attack, which continued after the plane had landed when the passenger pushed Lee down a flight of stairs causing an injury to his leg.

“Both parties were spoken to by the police in Turkey and to which Lee voluntarily gave a victim statement supported by the band.”

It continued: “Lee was not at any point arrested, detained or charged with any offence and after giving his statement, was free to continue his journey.

“The assault occurred after Lee had put his fee ton the seat which was considered culturally insensitive and for which Lee has apologised for any unknowing offence caused.”

It comes after Ryan was discovered responsible of racially aggravated assault on a British Airways air hostess whereas he was drunk on a airplane.

In January, the courtroom heard that the singer had drunk an entire bottle of port earlier than getting on the delayed flight from Glasgow to London on 31 July 2022.

He advised a flight attendant, who’s Black, that he needed “your chocolate children” and referred to as her a “chocolate cookie” after he was refused extra alcohol on the airplane. After the flight attendant, Leah Gordon, advised him to “stay away”, she stated he grabbed each her wrists earlier than passengers intervened.

Ryan was additionally accused of assaulting a police officer, after he allegedly tried to chew one of many officers who tried to arrest him on his arrival on the airport.

He apologised in courtroom and insisted he wasn’t racist as a result of his band member Simon Webbe is Black and he has had “Black girlfriends, mixed-race girlfriends” previously.

“I didn’t mean to cause any distress to anyone or be racist, it was just a poor choice of words, I suppose,” he stated, including that he had no recollection of a lot of the flight.

He has since withdrawn his responsible plea for drunkenly assaulting a police officer throughout his arrest. A call on whether or not he’ll face a trial will probably be made this month.

Blue consists of Ryan, Webbe, Duncan James and Antony Costa.