New York Post and Daily Telegraph columnist Miranda Devine has finally apologised to Quaden Bayles, for claiming that he faked being bullied in a viral video.
This comes after Quaden and his mother Yarraka launched a defamation case against Devine for her comments in July. However, even after the case was launched Devine was “unusually” silent about the defamation case against her.
Today, Devine apologised on Twitter for her accusations against Quaden Bayles and his family, admitting that what she said was “hurtful and untrue.”
In February this year I posted some comments on my personal Twitter account about Quaden Bayles and his mother Yarraka. I now know those comments were hurtful and untrue. I sincerely apologise to the Bayles for those comments.
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) September 19, 2020
Quaden Bayles, a nine year old boy with achondroplasia dwarfism went viral this year, for a video where he was sobbing due to bullying. Many came to the support of Quaden and his mother calling for an end to bullying, even celebrities like Hugh Jackman.
In February, over a series of tweets, Devine raised questions about whether the viral video was just “a scam” to make money, and that Yarraka had “coached” Quaden. Devine also quote-tweeted a baseless allegation that Bayles was in fact an “actor” whose mum posted the video to get almost $300,000 in donations (the donations, which eventually totaled more than $700,000, went to anti-bullying charities).
Following these claims, Quaden and Yarraka launched a defamation case against Devine and her employer, News Corp, for claims that he “dishonestly acted out being distressed in a video to obtain money from donors” and “dishonestly pretended to have been the victim of bullying, thereby hurting genuine victims of bullying.”
Shortly after the tweets made by Devine hit social media, a false internet conspiracy launched that believed the viral video was a hoax. One person even thanked Devine for “sharing and finding out the truth.”
“And coaching the kid to say those things that no nine year old would say,” Devine replied.
According to their lawyer, Quaden is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, from the distress caused by the tweets.
Devine suggested there had been a “disinformation campaign about my Quaden Bayles tweets.”
Both will return to court at a later date, so the question is whether the apology is too little too late?
