Robbie Williams has hit back at a “bully” podcaster who labelled him a “fraud”.
The British singer has spoken out after hosts of the World Cup Of… podcast shared a clip in which they harshly criticised him.
In the video posted on Instagram, one of the hosts claimed that Robbie, who rose to fame as a member of Take That in the ’90s, “got lucky being in Gary Barlow’s band”, referencing his former bandmate.
The host added, “You’re not a rockstar, you’re a fraud.”
Elsewhere in the episode, the podcaster recalled Robbie attending Glastonbury early in his career.
“Robbie Williams never been a fan of him,” he said. “I think it was the year before, I think he attended Glastonbury with bleached blonde hair, knocked about with Liam Gallagher, probably just shared a big bag of f**king gear.”
The host also described the singer as a “Redcoat”, a term used for holiday camp entertainers at Butlins, a chain of British holiday resorts.
Robbie, 52, later took to social media to respond to the comments.
“My algorithm sent me this,” he stated. “I went to Glastonbury because people my age went to Glastonbury. I’ve never called myself a rock star. Not once. I was on the bag. You end up where you end up.”
“I grew up on holiday camps. What’s wrong with being a Redcoat? Or lucky? I know exactly who and what I am,” the singer continued. “You, however, display a kind of cruelty that doesn’t even recognise itself. Scary. I’m a real Redcoat. You’re a real bully. I know which one I’d rather be.”
Robbie concluded by offering to show the hosts around “one of my houses, so you can see exactly how lucky I’ve been”, adding, “I’ll send my plane to pick you up”.
