Robbie Williams (Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom, 52 years old) was one of the artists who performed this Sunday in New York just before the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. Millions of people watched him sing Desire, this year’s official anthem, alongside Laura Pausini and Nicole Scherzinger as a prelude to the match that made the Spanish national team world champions. But if the British artist has been the talk of the town in recent hours, it hasn’t been because of his performance, but because of what happened to him in a previous interview with the streaming platform Magenta Sports that has gone viral. At one point in his chat with the interviewers, a white substance is seen falling onto Williams’ microphone, which he picks up with his hand when he sees it, scratches his head, and it sticks to his forehead. A white substance that many users have identified as cocaine or another narcotic substance. “The parrot got out of the cage,” joked one user.
The video has caused such a stir that Williams himself has responded on his Instagram profile, where he has 3.8 million followers. “I just wanted to apologize for the object that fell on the microphone yesterday. It was an absolute lack of professionalism,” he said this Monday, July 20, in a selfie video recorded from bed, shirtless. However, what initially might seem like a serious apology gradually takes on a jocular tone. According to the singer of Angels or Rock DJ, what fell during the interview was not a drug, but a mint candy. “Just woke up and feeling… Mint,” he says in the video description, playing with the word “mint” (menta), which in colloquial English slang means great. “People were worried about me, but it’s okay because I have more,” he points out at the end of the video, before sticking out his tongue at the camera to show he is taking two mint candies. Williams’ response has accumulated thousands of reactions, including many comments with heart emojis and laughing-crying faces. “Legend,” singer Michael Bublé wrote to him.
Williams has often spoken about his problems with addictions and substance abuse. “I am who I am because I drank and took drugs. If I had a time machine, I don’t know if I would change it,” read the headline of his recent interview with ICON, published on July 8. “I haven’t drunk in 25 years. That part isn’t difficult for me. The complicated thing is dealing with life as it is. But now I trust myself. I don’t think that just because I have anxiety one day, I’ll go out for cocaine and relapse. I’ll simply sit with it and live with it. I know myself and trust myself more than before,” he assured the magazine.
View this post on Instagram
The former Take That member has been in rehabilitation several times, the last time in 2007 to receive treatment for his addiction to prescription drugs. “I went to very, very dark places,” he confessed in his 2017 book, Reveal. “Addiction robs you of the ability to feel. That’s why so many people die from addiction,” he reflected.
View this post on Instagram
Beyond the response to this viral incident that the singer handled with humor, Williams has dedicated his latest social media posts to celebrating how much fun he had during the World Cup final, where he was accompanied by his wife, American actress Ayda Field. “FIFA WORLD CUP FINAL…! I will remember this day forever. It’s hard to summarize it in an Instagram video, but here’s just a small taste of the magic I experienced today. And what an incredible anthem to capture it! Congratulations to Spain and all the other countries that participated and made this World Cup so special,” Field wrote on Instagram, along with a video summarizing her husband’s best moments in New York.
