Davina McCall calls backlash to ‘insensitive’ Sarah Everard tweet a ‘terrifying’ misinterpretation

TV personality said that she is not ‘victim shaming’

Davina McCall has responded to the backlash over her “insensitive” tweet about Sarah Everard’s disappearance.

It was confirmed over the weekend that Everard’s body was found in woodland in Kent after she went missing when walking home in South London on 3 March.

A serving Met Police officer has been charged with her kidnapping and murder.

Last week, McCall attracted widespread criticism after she posted an “unhelpful and hurtful” tweet relating to Everard’s disappearance. The TV personality wrote that “female abduction/murder is extremely rare” and that the resulting “level of fear-mongering isn’t healthy”.

She also added: “Men’s mental health is an issue as well. Calling all men out as dangerous is bad for our sons, brothers, partners.”

McCall faced an immediate backlash for the tweet, with many women sharing statistics proving her statement incorrect, and arguing that she seemed to have missed the point.

The 53-year-old has since addressed the criticism in a new follow-up tweet, stating that the “misinterpretation of my post, by some, has been terrifying”.

She wrote: “To clarify. Any man that’s violent/coercive towards a woman is abhorrent. As for victim shaming. I am not. The misinterpretation of my post, by some, has been terrifying.

“Women should feel safe everywhere, all the time. Men should, and many do, help make this idea possible.”

Many people, however, have similarly condemned McCall for her second statement. One person commented: “No one misinterpreted you. We just read your post. Please don’t double down and be a victim in this. You said it was fear mongering.”

Someone else added: “Most of us have men in our lives that we love, so I can see where your post [comes from], your post was poorly timed and was like ‘all lives matter’ insensitive and unnecessary.”

“Nobody misinterpreted your tweet. It was clear. People felt it was harmful (with good reason). You know why. It’s obvious why. You have every right to your opinion, but people are absolutely free to (respectfully) call out the harm caused by such ideas,” added a third person.

In response to McCall’s initial tweet, Empire editor Terri White wrote: “Female murder isn’t rare. Rape isn’t rare. Domestic violence isn’t rare. We have an epidemic of violence against women (by men) in this country and this is so unhelpful and hurtful to every women who’s been abused, assaulted, harassed, beaten, raped or yes, killed.”

Another user added: “None of us have ever said it’s all men, just that there needs to be greater awareness amongst men of how their behaviour does or could impact women.”

In response to the above tweet, McCall replied: “But you kind of are saying it’s all men in your statement.”