The Sydney Roosters NRL club has threatened footy fans with legal action for making ‘grossly distorted’ comments after a video of players giving away merchandise went viral.
Roosters players Terrell May, Brandon Smith, Joseph Suaali’i, Naufahu Whyte, Spencer Leniu and Zach Dockar-Clay featured in a live video May posted on streaming platform Twitch, with the footage clocking in at just over an hour long.
However, a heavily edited version of the video has gone viral, attracting a host of potentially defamatory comments from fans who claimed some of the stars were using drugs.
Some footy fans accused the players of taking drugs while off-camera in the footage, which has been examined by Daily Mail Australia and shows no proof of any illegal activity.
Daily Mail Australia does not infer that anyone depicted in the video acted illegally or broke any NRL rules.
The video was a light-hearted open forum with fans, with the players happily chatting with their supporters, sending shout outs and giving away products to lucky supporters.
The Roosters have issued an official statement on the edited video on Monday and condemned individuals and social media accounts that have shared the edited footage.
‘The Sydney Roosters have been made aware of a small clip from a longer live stream that some on social media have claimed identifies behaviour that breaches NRL rules,’ the statement read.
‘The live stream in question was part of a transparent one-hour interaction with one of our player’s followers on the evening before the Club’s Round 11 match.
‘The players who featured in the stream selected winners for several giveaways of jerseys, boots and caps. The players were fully aware they were being viewed by participants in the live stream.’
