Why has Ronaldo's narcissistic nature been brushed over for a decade?

Gehrman

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Well I mean it works differently for different people, isn’t it? Ultimately it’s all about achieving success and happiness in life, and there are many different paths leading to it. As long as it works best for him, it is then a good thing for him too.

And I doubt most wouldn’t want to live the life of Ronaldo, even he does have his fair share of hate and controversy, he does also gets all the attention, glory, money, career, and followings etc like no one else (or very few) could compare.
Yeah when you're on top it's fine(in sports). When you're past it like Mourinho it becomes a toxic shitshow and Ronnie now to the detriment of the club and team.
 

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I don't think I've ever seen Messi behave like a complete narcissist. He's never seemed obsessed about making everything about him. Everything of course at Barca and Argentina became about him because he was far and away their best player and maybe the best ever, but he never acted like a attention whore and exuded this "me me me!" Attitude. Sure his tax evasion case reflects badly on him but I don't feel he's behaved as a narcissist throughout his career or his interviews.
Yep!

 

fallengt

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The best part about being a cocky narcissist is when you have something to back it up. For Ronaldo, it's the trophies, the talent, the hardwork, the attention etc...
People seem to don't understand that being cocky is(or was) literally his source of power and what drives him to be a winner. Criticisms like music to his ears

But it's also double-edged knife. Ronaldo is always known for his athleticism but the age is catching up with him. He just has harder time to accept it due to what said above and years of being "ego-massaged" by millions teenager fans whom also having hard time to accept that their idol is now a has been.

That and his obsession with a certain Argentinian midget.
 

Gazza

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Well I mean it works differently for different people, isn’t it? Ultimately it’s all about achieving success and happiness in life, and there are many different paths leading to it. As long as it works best for him, it is then a good thing for him too.

And I doubt most wouldn’t want to live the life of Ronaldo, even he does have his fair share of hate and controversy, he does also gets all the attention, glory, money, career, and followings etc like no one else (or very few) could compare.
you’re projecting. It’s interesting because it gives insight into what people value: you seem to be all about materialism and ego boosts? Ronaldo and his acolytes are essentially Patrick Bateman.
 

Mb194dc

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His latest interview is surely just aimed at getting a payoff from Utd... Totally calculated..

My hunch is he'll end up back at Sporting once he's cashed his contract in. On low wages...

It's the only viable destination I can see.
 

RedRonaldo

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He seems to have gained a following (a group of dedicated, die-hard fans) that resembles that of - say - Michael Jackson more than anything traditionally associated with football players.

Why that is, I ain't sure. He's never struck me as being particularly charismatic (not even compared to fellow footballers). I guess the time was right for something like it to happen - and it has something to do with the rivalry with Messi (the latter's fanboys/girls are probably just as insane).
I think its down to several factors:

First of all, football is by far the biggest global sports int the world, it will naturally generates more followings in social media then say Basketball players, Tennis players, Athletics or Golfers etc.

Then of course with Ronaldo unmatched longevity and consistency at the very top level in the game, and being the main talisman and star of biggest clubs in the world (Man Utd, Real Madrid) for so many years, he will naturally accumulate more followings then 99.999% of other players who have shorter peak/less admirable career than he does. The fact that he has been nominated for record 18 times in Ballon D'or, means he has been the longest active/relevant football star to date.

He has also enjoyed the last ofJoga Bonita period, with many entertaining skills and tricks demonstrated on the ads during his early years, this helps promote/attracts a lot of new followings among the younger generation.

Him being the first of the kind (goalscoring wing forward) also creates a new trend in football. And we have seen a number of best young talents in todays game, they have all idolised Ronaldo in the past (ie Mbappe, Haaland, Rasfhord, Garnancho etc)

His rivalry with Messi has always been one of the biggest talk in sports, we are talking about rivalry of 2 GOATs which last for over 15 years in the biggest sports, who has both won about every individual honours/team trophies out there, which isn't normal at all. And this creates millions and millions of die hard fanboys arguing who is the best over the years.

Finally he has the looks, lifestyle, money, success, fame, and the records, he has everything people would crave for, and the career everyone would admire.

Him being cocky on top of all that, would make him even bigger star than his fellow humble footballers too. Don't know why but people tends to like cocky superstar.

And this coincides with the rise of social media during 00-10s, which makes him becoming the biggest ever household name in social media.
 

Irwin99

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Rightly or wrongly when you have a special or gifted person who excels at something you do make allowances that you wouldn't make for others. Perhaps it shouldn't happen but it does. Sir Alex always made allowances for special players; Cantona being the obvious example, Keane's indiscipline and drunken brawls in Manchester, Ronaldo's narcissism and bad behaviour, particularly in 08-09 (substituting himself on one occassion).

I've said this plenty of times, but as a fan of ancient history Ronaldo reminds of the Athenian general Alcibiades, a man who was gifted, incredibly good-looking and also a total reprobate who betrayed many people in his own self-interest and was often forgiven no matter how much people wanted to hate him. As much as I can't stand this c*** right now I think my bitterness will soften when he retires and we reflect on the career of one of the greatest players of all time. He's still a tw*t though.
 

RedRonaldo

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you’re projecting. It’s interesting because it gives insight into what people value: you seem to be all about materialism and ego boosts? Ronaldo and his acolytes are essentially Patrick Bateman.
Well its a material world afterall, isn't it. Of course there are other things in life worth pursing for, but bottom line is, most of us spend most of our time working for money, earn a living, raising a family, and want to get recognition at things we have been doing. Those are most common values for most people. Of course I have my own personal values at other things too, but I am not going to share those on the internet.
 

bosnian_red

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Sometimes people make things up or excuses about someone just being really good and talented at a sport. I'd bet there are loads of footballers and athletes with his mentality. Most just aren't that good.

"Crazy drive to win"... The majority have that. They just aren't as gifted as him.
 

bosnian_red

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I'm curious. Do people think it'd be difficult to be humble if you were in his position? He's a dick, yes. But imagine being in his shoes. What sort of person would you be?
Messi has done alright being a lot more humble from a PR and image perspective, even though he's ahead of Ronaldo for most people
 

Ace of Spades

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I never cared about him after he left the club, and mostly ignored him as he was irrelevant to us as a club.
 

Kinky Melinky

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I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that 'narcissistic' is probably the wrong term to use for Ronaldo. Narcissists fake it to make it. They tell endless amounts of lies to themselves and others in order to support a phoney front that they are better than most (if not all) others at doing certain things. Think Donald Trump. The point of all the lies is to reinforce the front, or mask along with the self delusion. They will also quite literally stamp over everybody and anybody to get the end result they want when they are most undeserving of that result. All of their relationships are for their own benefit to attain this end result, and every connection they have is an opportunity.

Ronaldo was an immense player. That's the point. Having a massive ego does not make somebody a narcissist however he may have higher levels of healthy narcissism while not being a 'narcissist.' They may well have a massive ego because for years they were indeed the best, and coming to terms with the transience of the human condition: i.e growing older, can be a seriously tough pill to swallow particularly when all you have known since your formative years is football. I think it's more likely he is going through similar phases to grieving and is seriously stuck in denial. A narcissist however? Nah. He's too into helping others for the sake of it being the right thing to do.

He's still a royal pain in the hole. Don't get me wrong on that count. Ronaldo does my nut in.

Edit: I realize that the OP may not have implied he is a "narcissist" but more so has a narcissistic nature. If so, discount the above. I'm a moron.
 

TsuWave

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He has always been like that. And always lived under the shadow of Messi, making comments about him here and there.

I still remember this, and he even got mad :lol:

I know this is a piling up thread, but what exactly is wrong in this video? Higuain had a heavy touch and lost the angle and he was better positioned to take it? He’s frustrated because he’s think “leave it”, but like I’ve seen similar instances before in football. It’s hardly the smoking gun people are making it out to be
 

Gehrman

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I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that 'narcissistic' is probably the wrong term to use for Ronaldo. Narcissists fake it to make it. They tell endless amounts of lies to themselves and others in order to support a phoney front that they are better than most (if not all) others at doing certain things. Think Donald Trump. The point of all the lies is to reinforce the front, or mask along with the self delusion. They will also quite literally stamp over everybody and anybody to get the end result they want when they are most undeserving of that result. All of their relationships are for their own benefit to attain this end result, and every connection they have is an opportunity.

Ronaldo was an immense player. That's the point. Having a massive ego does not make somebody a narcissist however he may have higher levels of healthy narcissism while not being a 'narcissist.' They may well have a massive ego because for years they were indeed the best, and coming to terms with the transience of the human condition: i.e growing older, can be a seriously tough pill to swallow particularly when all you have known since your formative years is football. I think it's more likely he is going through similar phases to grieving and is seriously stuck in denial. A narcissist however? Nah. He's too into helping others for the sake of it being the right thing to do.

He's still a royal pain in the hole. Don't get me wrong on that count. Ronaldo does my nut in.

Edit: I realize that the OP may not have implied he is a "narcissist" but more so has a narcissistic nature. If so, discount the above. I'm a moron.
How would you rate Mourinho on being a narcissist? Massively successful, was on track to perhaps becoming the most successful manager ever. Then the wheels came off and his delusions became ever more apparent.

I do believe a clinical psychologist did actually diagnose him with NPD.
 

KeanoMagicHat

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People picked their side on Ronaldo-Messi debates, and then once they decided their man was Ronaldo, then they couldn't be seen to be wrong or criticising their man, so came to brush over all the bad traits. And then if you pitched your tent on Ronaldo is better than Messi back 10 years ago, 10 years of arguing for Ronaldo online takes its toll and you eventually convince yourself that he's great at everything (admitting anything would be conceding ground).

Lebron James is closer to Ronaldo while Steph Curry is ridiculously down to earth. The very best Rugby players in the past 20 years have also been largely team players and normal characters.
The best comparison for Ronaldo in basketball is probably Kobe Bryant, in that individualistic mentality, if I focus entirely on myself and do my job well, it will end up mutually beneficial for the player and the team. At his peak LeBron off the court has been pretty narcissistic, but I'd say on it his style was always been quite team-focused and closer to Messi. The past year or two though there are similarities between Ronaldo at United and LeBron at the Lakers. Ageing stars ultimately not worth the money they're on, holding big teams back.
 

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I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that 'narcissistic' is probably the wrong term to use for Ronaldo. Narcissists fake it to make it. They tell endless amounts of lies to themselves and others in order to support a phoney front that they are better than most (if not all) others at doing certain things. Think Donald Trump. The point of all the lies is to reinforce the front, or mask along with the self delusion. They will also quite literally stamp over everybody and anybody to get the end result they want when they are most undeserving of that result. All of their relationships are for their own benefit to attain this end result, and every connection they have is an opportunity.

Ronaldo was an immense player. That's the point. Having a massive ego does not make somebody a narcissist however he may have higher levels of healthy narcissism while not being a 'narcissist.' They may well have a massive ego because for years they were indeed the best, and coming to terms with the transience of the human condition: i.e growing older, can be a seriously tough pill to swallow particularly when all you have known since your formative years is football. I think it's more likely he is going through similar phases to grieving and is seriously stuck in denial. A narcissist however? Nah. He's too into helping others for the sake of it being the right thing to do.

He's still a royal pain in the hole. Don't get me wrong on that count. Ronaldo does my nut in.

Edit: I realize that the OP may not have implied he is a "narcissist" but more so has a narcissistic nature. If so, discount the above. I'm a moron.
Not being a narcissist has little to do with your success as an individual (someone like Trump who may have bluffed his way to power) I've come across countless narcissists in the workplace in managerial positions who may have been amazing at their job but were total self obsessed control freaks prone to petty tantrums over minuscule things.
 
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krazyrobus

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People tolerate obnoxious geniuses as long as they are useful and his usefulness has run out.
 

KeanoMagicHat

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Not being a narcissist has little to do with your success as an individual (someone like Trump who may have buffed his way to power) I've come across countless narcissists in the workplace in managerial positions who may have been amazing at their job but were total self obsessed control freaks prone to petty tantrums over minuscule things.
And it always depends on the environment and circumstances, Ronaldo being a high-performance narcissist at Real Madrid at his peak when he was a brilliant player and was worth the hassle. Madrid didn't make a big deal to renew him in 2018, Perez saw his age and saw how the balance between his ego/self-obsession/salary and future ability was moving into the "not worth the hassle" territory.

By the time he moved to us he was in the "nowhere near worth the hassle" territory. Ronaldo, if he had any self-awareness or a normal balanced personality, would understand that at 37 years old, he's in the elder statesman period of his career and can still make an impact in a different way - becoming more of a motivator and mentor for young players, accept his place in the team, come off the bench and score crucial goals, accept his limitations and adapt his game to his physical condition.

Instead he's been more immature than the teenagers at the club, burnt all bridges, damaged team morale, while being paid £500k a week. His petty tantrums are unbefitting of a player of his stature in the team.
 

Wing Attack Plan R

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He was called a preening show-pony when he made his debut for us, so I don't think it's accurate to say his narcissistic behavior has been brushed over. He was always seen as a narcissist and a brilliant player, they two went hand in hand. I remember reading many (many, many) Ronaldo vs. Messi posts where the ultimate trump card for the Messi fans was that Messi was but a simple, humble lad, while Ronaldo was trying to suck his own dong (and that's probably how he will end up dying).
 

RedOrange

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A lot of people think narcissism is simply grandiosity or delusions of grandeur, but that's not the case at all. Even if Ronaldo hasn't been deluded in thinking he's the best footballer in the world because he actually was, he's certainly deluded now, because he's old and shite.

Here are the symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder from the DSM-5.
  • A grandiose sense of self-importance
  • Preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
  • Believing that they are "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
  • Requiring excessive admiration
  • A sense of entitlement (unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with their expectations)
  • Being interpersonally exploitative (taking advantage of others to achieve their own ends)
  • Lacking empathy (unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others)
  • Often being envious of others or believing that others are envious of them
  • Showing arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

I'll let people decide for themselves how many of these behaviors are evident.
 

Bepi

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Why? Herd mentality, cultism, narcissism, even nationalism (think of Serbia with Djokovic during his recent Covid-19 antivaxx stance). Sport is an effective projection of soft power as well, and many just jump on the wagon.
 

Fortitude

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I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that 'narcissistic' is probably the wrong term to use for Ronaldo. Narcissists fake it to make it. They tell endless amounts of lies to themselves and others in order to support a phoney front that they are better than most (if not all) others at doing certain things. Think Donald Trump. The point of all the lies is to reinforce the front, or mask along with the self delusion. They will also quite literally stamp over everybody and anybody to get the end result they want when they are most undeserving of that result. All of their relationships are for their own benefit to attain this end result, and every connection they have is an opportunity.

Ronaldo was an immense player. That's the point. Having a massive ego does not make somebody a narcissist however he may have higher levels of healthy narcissism while not being a 'narcissist.' They may well have a massive ego because for years they were indeed the best, and coming to terms with the transience of the human condition: i.e growing older, can be a seriously tough pill to swallow particularly when all you have known since your formative years is football. I think it's more likely he is going through similar phases to grieving and is seriously stuck in denial. A narcissist however? Nah. He's too into helping others for the sake of it being the right thing to do.

He's still a royal pain in the hole. Don't get me wrong on that count. Ronaldo does my nut in.

Edit: I realize that the OP may not have implied he is a "narcissist" but more so has a narcissistic nature. If so, discount the above. I'm a moron.
Narcissism has a spectrum and one side might be the bolded, but definitely isn't applicable to the other, who can be by far the best in their field and still incessantly and unashamedly display their traits for all and sundry. Ronaldo goes out of his way to keep the spotlight on himself, positive or negative; as long as it is about him, ahead of: team, team-mates or collective, he's golden and he has been that way from, well, each individual might have a differing starting point from when they determined that, but it'll be decades regardless.
 

Cascarino

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Well its a material world afterall, isn't it. Of course there are other things in life worth pursing for, but bottom line is, most of us spend most of our time w̶o̶r̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ f̶o̶r̶ m̶o̶n̶e̶y̶, e̶a̶r̶n̶ a̶ l̶i̶v̶i̶n̶g̶, r̶a̶i̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ a̶ f̶a̶m̶i̶l̶y̶, a̶n̶d̶ w̶a̶n̶t̶ t̶o̶ g̶e̶t̶ r̶e̶c̶o̶g̶n̶i̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ a̶t̶ t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ w̶e̶ h̶a̶v̶e̶ b̶e̶e̶n̶ d̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ signings up to football forums with some variation of the name Ronaldo, valiantly defending my hero in the hopes he’ll see it and pm me
Noble life’s work that
 

Cloud7

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A more interesting question to me is why do United fans fawn over Ronaldo more than Madrid fans. This is purely anecdotal, based on observations on the Caf, Twitter and among people I know, prior to this season, United fans worship Ronaldo and fawn over him way more than Madrid fans ever did. The Madrid fans liked him and appreciated his contribution but the level of hero worship was much greater among the United fanbase.
 

Gehrman

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A lot of people think narcissism is simply grandiosity or delusions of grandeur, but that's not the case at all. Even if Ronaldo hasn't been deluded in thinking he's the best footballer in the world because he actually was, he's certainly deluded now, because he's old and shite.

Here are the symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder from the DSM-5.
  • A grandiose sense of self-importance
  • Preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
  • Believing that they are "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
  • Requiring excessive admiration
  • A sense of entitlement (unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with their expectations)
  • Being interpersonally exploitative (taking advantage of others to achieve their own ends)
  • Lacking empathy (unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others)
  • Often being envious of others or believing that others are envious of them
  • Showing arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

I'll let people decide for themselves how many of these behaviors are evident.
Yup. Ronnie's never ticked any of those boxes.
 

Inter Yer Nan

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It was never brushed over. If Ronaldo said or did anything, it was criticized by many. He could literally save a child’s life and would be attacked for it.

The problem is, most people can’t accept someone they don’t like doing good, or someone they do like doing something bad. The bigger the celebrity, the more extreme the stance. Ronaldo has always been seen as somewhat of a villain.
 

R'hllor

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because cringe droolers were busy shouting siuuuu and didnt care, United fans also added another dimension to it, being desperate with no shame to call one of goats a United legend as well.
 

bonothom

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Get out of the club. Sooner the better. The only reason he called out the Glazers in the interview was to get support from the fanbase, and all the while he takes their £500,000 a week. But to go in on Ten Hag who is trying to build a team and squad is unforgivable. Get out of the club you preening twat You are no longer a first choice at a top club so frigging take the money and go and play in Beckhams shite American League.
 

edcunited1878

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MJ was the great basketball player of his time and a GOAT, especially when you consider the global appeal, media, etc well before modern athletes.

He grew into this ego maniac who had a ridiculous competitive streak that destroyed people. However, when he knew his powers were fading, he ended up in Washington and didn't compete for anything. Just kept playing and ended on his own terms really. Everybody at that level deals with their ending differently and Ronaldo, as one of the most recognizable people in the world currently, isn't bowing out 'gracefully'. It's unfortunate, but that's the way it is going. His competitive streak, drive, and ego doesn't want to accept that his body isn't up to it anymore to the elite level and it's not worth all the pain to develop a team around him.

Tiger Woods...his downfall was personal issues, injuries, and then he won again a few years later (The Masters). But he's 'normalized' now with time.
 

JPRouve

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I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that 'narcissistic' is probably the wrong term to use for Ronaldo. Narcissists fake it to make it. They tell endless amounts of lies to themselves and others in order to support a phoney front that they are better than most (if not all) others at doing certain things. Think Donald Trump. The point of all the lies is to reinforce the front, or mask along with the self delusion. They will also quite literally stamp over everybody and anybody to get the end result they want when they are most undeserving of that result. All of their relationships are for their own benefit to attain this end result, and every connection they have is an opportunity.

Ronaldo was an immense player. That's the point. Having a massive ego does not make somebody a narcissist however he may have higher levels of healthy narcissism while not being a 'narcissist.' They may well have a massive ego because for years they were indeed the best, and coming to terms with the transience of the human condition: i.e growing older, can be a seriously tough pill to swallow particularly when all you have known since your formative years is football. I think it's more likely he is going through similar phases to grieving and is seriously stuck in denial. A narcissist however? Nah. He's too into helping others for the sake of it being the right thing to do.

He's still a royal pain in the hole. Don't get me wrong on that count. Ronaldo does my nut in.

Edit: I realize that the OP may not have implied he is a "narcissist" but more so has a narcissistic nature. If so, discount the above. I'm a moron.
That's a bit harsh, a moronic nature seems more appropriate. ;)
 

Cascarino

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It was never brushed over. If Ronaldo said or did anything, it was criticized by many. He could literally save a child’s life and would be attacked for it.
Interesting hypothetical, but we can also look at the actual example of Ronaldo smashing a kid's phone and getting defended over it

SIUUUUUUUUU
 

RacingClub

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But do bear in mind that for many of us, this is hardly a wake-up call.
Yup but some are still fast asleep.

Here's a quote from the other thread on the United Forum.

"I skimmed over though your talking about the “rape allegations” the ones that came out 10+ years after to try and get a check out of a global star?"