Dortmund apologizes for TikTok clip mocking woman's stammer; Ironman follows with apology
Club and Ironman say there was no intent to mock; Jessie Yendle invited to a Champions League match as part of the outreach
Borussia Dortmund apologized after a TikTok video appeared to mock a Welsh woman with a stammer, using footage of influencer Jessie Yendle and the start of a popular dance track paired with footage of striker Serhou Guirassy. Ironman, the triathlon organizer, posted a similar clip and later removed it, prompting competing apologies from both organizations.
Jessie Yendle, from Pontypridd in Rhondda Cynon Taf, told BBC Wales she was deeply shocked and hurt by the posts. The Dortmund video, posted in early August, attracted hundreds of thousands of views before it was deleted, and Dortmund remains one of the most followed clubs on TikTok with millions of fans.
Dortmund said there was no intention to embarrass, insult, or attack anyone, and the club offered to apologize in person by inviting Yendle to a UEFA Champions League match of her choice to demonstrate the club’s commitment to inclusion. The club also emphasized its regret over the incident and said it would review its social media processes to avoid a repeat.
Ironman deleted the video after online criticism and issued a public apology, saying it should have conducted proper research before jumping on a social media trend. It added that it had reached out to Yendle to apologize and to reinforce its stance on inclusion, noting it would be more thorough in vetting content in the future.
Jessie Yendle, known online as Mimidarlingbeauty and with about 3.5 million followers on TikTok, has built a platform around raising awareness of speech impediments and stammering. She has routinely posted about stammer-related challenges and advocacy, including calls for a universal symbol to help the estimated 450,000 people with speech impediments in the United Kingdom. Her experiences growing up with a stammer—such as difficulty saying her name in a job interview—have informed her public-facing work.
The episode has reignited discussions about the responsibility of brands and sports teams on social media and the care needed when engaging with trends that touch on disability and speech differences. Advocates say that while social media can raise awareness, it must be paired with genuine respect and inclusive practices. Both Dortmund and Ironman said they would pause to reflect on the messages their posts send and on how to better support inclusion across their platforms and events.
As of this writing, Yendle has continued to use her platform to highlight accessibility and inclusion issues, while the clubs involved emphasized their commitment to learning from the missteps and to moving forward with more careful content review.
