A family say their lives have been ruined after a video of a black man and his brother playing in the park with his white granddaughters was shared by Tommy Robinson and weaponised by the far right.
Olajuwon Ayeni, a musician from Redcar, North Yorkshire, has been racially abused and falsely labelled a paedophile in the week since the family video was stolen from the TikTok account of his wife, Natalie, who he married five years ago, and shared by extremists online.
On Tuesday, the couple’s local MP, Anna Turley, was forced to write a letter providing a reference of good character for Ayeni when he was suspended by his management after the online disinformation.
“I’m devastated to receive the email from my management,” Ayeni said. “Music is my life. My social media will be damaged, my career will be tarnished … but I am determined to show the truth and hopefully clear it up.”
He and Natalie say they have been living in fear since being threatened in the street after Robinson shared the video with his 1.4 million followers. The far-right activist wrote on his X account: “Wtf is even going on here? Where are the parents?!”
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has not removed the video despite numerous replies debunking it and calling for him to delete it.
Ayeni and his wife have been scared to leave their house because of threats. “We haven’t gone outside at home, we just can’t,” Natalie said. “Just after it started to go viral, someone in the local pub recognised Olajuwon immediately; we couldn’t believe how quick it had spread. We were walking home from shops just streets from our house, and two lads passed us, spun round and said ‘I hope you’re not them off that video or we’re coming back to slash you up’. It’s just horrendous.
“Someone was shouting ‘paedophile’ outside the house the other night, so I rang the police again but they say there’s little they can do. It feels a matter of time before something bad happens. We tried to go out yesterday and had to come home.”
The impact on Ayeni has been particularly severe. “I feel I have to sleep with one eye open,” he said. “I feel unsafe, scared and sad, as mine and my brother’s lives have been threatened. Someone said they will seek revenge and I’ll never walk again, all for just being in the park with the kids I love on a family day out. It’s been twisted by haters and wicked people.”
Natalie said: “The distress this is causing is unreal, it’s ruined our lives and there we were, getting on with things, looking after the girls minding our own business and now we are scared to do anything. It’s made me quite poorly to be honest and the shares, views and vile comments just keep going. I’ve had to stop looking.
“We just want people to know the truth,” Natalie added. “We’re a normal family who went to the park with our grandchildren. The lies and racism have turned our lives upside down and continue to do so daily.”
Despite reporting threats to police, the family said they had received only limited support. Officers have told them that while personal threats are criminal, sharing the video does not constitute a crime.
Cleveland police said they were offering the family all available support and advice. The Redcar and Cleveland local policing superintendent, Emily Harrison, added: “Cleveland police would also urge social media users to refrain from further sharing either the video or any incorrect information about the people featured.”