Paris Tier, girlfriend of Greater Western Sydney Giants player Conor Stone, has apologized after posting a "tone-deaf" TikTok video that drew criticism amid an investigation into an alleged sexual assault involving the Sydney Swans.
Following reports that police had investigated an incident at the Pullman East Melbourne hotel, Tier posted a video on Tuesday of herself hugging Stone after a match. The caption stated, "I'm so sick of this narrative it's 'AFL men'. It's the person" and that not all AFL players, including her boyfriend, are bad people. She added text overlay reading, "I know the man beside me, and I know the respect he has for women. Let's not let some people's actions define other people."
Critics quickly condemned the post, with many calling Tier "out of touch" and accusing her of making the situation about herself. One commenter wrote, "Why not post about standing with the victim? Or spreading awareness of SA (sexual assault)? So rude of you."
Another user commented, "Glad you made the decision to delete that last post, hope you had a moment of clarity on how out of touch and anti-feminist it was!!!" The backlash led to Tier deleting the video and subsequently removing negative comments from her other posts.
Tier eventually posted an apology in the comment section of a different video, stating, "I want to make it clear that I do not condone what happened. I posted a video last night without properly understanding the severity of the situation. I took it down as soon as I did, but I recognise that I should never have posted it in the first place and I'm sorry."
She added that she is taking time to educate herself further and reiterated her long-standing advocacy for women's safety, saying, "I've always advocated for women to feel safe in sport and I always will, and I'm sorry that my post did not reflect that."
The apology comes as the sexual assault allegations are under investigation. Reports indicate that police spoke to several Sydney Swans players, including Isaac Heeney and Chad Warner, at the Pullman Hotel. The Herald Sun reported that witnesses saw two women approach hotel staff after the alleged incident, with one described as "hysterical" and alleging she had been "touched" and overwhelmed by several men in a room. The report also mentioned unconfirmed claims that a player allegedly threw a sex toy that struck a woman.