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Mark Wright cut a casual figure as he was seen for the first time since his apology for dressing up as American rapper 6ix9ine, who was convicted of a child sex crime two years ago.
The radio host, 34, wore a grey tracksuit and monochrome trainers as he walked with his hand in his pocket in London while listening to music on his earphones.
Former TOWIE star Mark came under fire when he shared a snap to his Instagram page on Saturday evening dressed as the American performer, 25, who is also known as Tekashi69.
Stepping out: Mark Wright, 34, cut a casual figure as he was seen for the first time since his apology for dressing up as American rapper 6ix9ine
In an statement to MailOnline on Sunday, Mark, who quickly took the photo down, said he was unaware of the rapper’s crime.
Mark said: ‘My apologies for last night’s Halloween picture. I only knew about Tekashi69’s music and not about his offences. Had I known, it would not have been my choice of costume.’
In the photograph, Mark grinned for the camera while sporting red and yellow, and blue and orange dreadlocks as well as ’69’ and ‘six nine’ tattoos.
Mistake: The TV personality came under fire when he shared a snap to his Instagram page on Saturday evening dressed as the American performer, 25, who is also known as Tekashi69
Blunder: Rapper 6ix9ine hit the headlines when he was convicted of a child sex crime two years ago
In 2018, the rapper was sentenced to four years probation for a 2015 child sex case in which he publicly posted a video of a 13-year-old girl performing sexual acts at a party.
Alongside his controversial post, which he disabled comments for, the television personality wrote: ‘Happy Halloween @6ix9ine’
His fans were quick to express their outrage at his choice of fancy dress outfit, with some people saying they would be unfollowing the footballer after seeing the post.
Mark said: ‘My apologies for last night’s Halloween picture. I only knew about Tekashi69’s music and not about his offences. Had I known, it would not have been my choice of costume’
Crimes: The rapper, whose name is Daniel Hernandez, was sentenced to four years probation in 2018 for publicly posting a video of a 13-year-old girl performing sexual acts at a party
One person said: ‘Dressing up as someone as disgusting as this guy… Deffo calls for an unfollow.’
Another fumed: ‘Mark, you’ve got it wrong.’ A third penned: ‘Why would you dress up as a sex offender?’
And a fourth wrote: ‘Of all the people to dress up as.’
Outrage: Football pundit Mark has come under fire for his fancy dress, which copies 6ix9ine’s outfit in his 2020 music video Gooba, as the rapper has been convicted of a child sex crime
The rapper, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, was sentenced to four years probation in 2018 for publicly posting a video of a 13-year-old girl performing sexual acts at a party.
In the crude video taken in Harlem, the child, sans clothes, was ‘engaging in oral intercourse’ with Taquan Anderson, who was also charged, as the rapper made thrusting movements behind her.
In a separate video, Taquan groped the girl’s breasts as she sat on Tekashi’s lap. The rapper was 18 at the time.
After he was sentenced, Tekashi thanked the judge and said: ‘I have millions of youth that look at me as a role model and the last place I want to be is incarcerated, they don’t deserve it. Thank you.’
Tekashi admitted to the child sex crime and pleaded guilty to one count of Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance in October 2015. He was not required to register as a sex offender.
The judge granted him a plea in exchange for his honesty, and two years of his sentence were deferred.
The rapper had had numerous other run-ins with the law, including being arrested in August 2018 after he missed a court date for allegedly choking a 16-year-old fan who was trying to record him at a Houston mall.
His arrest for the January 2018 altercation came after he landed back in New York City from a European tour.
Rapper: Tekashi admitted to the child sex crime and pleaded guilty to one count of Use of a Child in a Sexual Performance in October 2015
And in May, he was taken into custody for driving under a suspended license. He was also accused of assaulting a police officer in Brooklyn.
His attorney, Lance Lazzaro, argued in court that his client’s recent arrests happened well after the 2017 deadline for the plea deal.
The four-year probation sentence for the child sex crime was what his team had been seeking all along.
In 2019, he was also convicted in connection with racketeering, drug trafficking and weapons charges, and got a lesser sentence.
He had faced as many as 47 years in custody for his testimony against one-time associates.
He was sentenced to two years in prison, and released from prison into home arrest last April after citing concerns about coronavirus, with his home arrest drawing to a close July 31.
Earlier this year, a documentary about the rapper called Supervillain: The Making of Tekashi 6ix9ine was released by Showtime and followed Hulu movie 69: The Saga of Danny Hernandez.
In February, Karam Gill, who directed the three-part documentary, called the hip hop artist ‘truly a horrible human being’.
The director called Tekashi someone with no talent or morals, ‘hyper calculated’ and a ‘social media mastermind’ who can spark a reaction, according to his interview with Page Six.
Gill initially said he was reluctant to even do the project and didn’t want to explore his story because he’s ‘such a toxic individual in our culture,’ but he ‘realised it’s an extremely important story that shines a light on where we are as a culture’.
Gill added to the outlet that the hip hop star is ‘someone who never did anything online on accident. Every click, word and action online was designed with care to spark a reaction’.
While making the documentary, Gill revealed that he realized ‘how much of a social media mastermind’ he was.
Adding that the rapper’s ‘understanding of how human beings operate on these platforms is incredible.’
He noted that from an overall perspective of Tekashi, born Daniel Hernandez, he ‘loves to instigate’ and also ‘aggravate,’ things that both ‘spark a reaction.’
Controversial: In 2019, he was also convicted in connection with racketeering, drug trafficking and weapons charges, and got a lesser sentence
Gill never met him in person or spoken to him, according to the Rolling Stone feature he did, via Page Six.
The docu-series featured unreleased post-prison tapes that the production team acquired.
Gills says this doc series gave him the chance to capture a time in history were ‘we have seen pop culture figures, and even presidents, shape their own realities and manipulate us all though digital media.’
Soon after his statements, Tekashi’s lawyer Lance Lazzaro told Page Six: ‘It’s the furthest thing from the truth. Danny’s talent speaks for itself, and Danny is a good human being. Daniel Hernandez was never interviewed for [the docuseries], and never participated. It is interesting and almost unbelievable without ever having met the person… how [the director] characterised him.’
He added to the outlet: ‘It’s hard to fathom. No one can comment about this talent… and how he characterised him when he never met the person.’
Documentary: A programme about the rapper called Supervillain: The Making of Tekashi 6ix9ine was released by Showtime earlier this year
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