Gary Lineker in hot water for allegedly ‘mocking the poor’ with his latest social media post

Gary Lineker is causing a commotion on social media, and unfortunately, it’s not for a good reason.

The former football star has gone on to create a very lucrative career for himself since saying goodbye to his days on the field, becoming a sports presenter in the mid-1990s. People might know him best for his stint hosting Match of the Day or his coverage on networks such as NBC Sports Network and the BBC. The 60-year-old is a well-known star in the world of sports, and has money in the bank to show for it.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Gary Lineker has a net worth of $35 million, solidifying the fact that he’s a very wealthy man. So given the amount of money he’s got, people are finding one of his latest posts on social media to be rather offensive. According to the Mirror, the former Leicester City star is being accused of “mocking the poor.”

The publication explains that Lineker turned heads this week after making a joke about the increase in the fee for the BBC TV licence. As we previously reported, the network is upping its price from £157.50 ($216.42) to £159 ($218.48) in April 2021. Many people are angered that this will mark the fifth year in a row that the BBC is increasing its yearly licence price.

Gary Lineker took to Twitter and quote-tweeted a report from BBC News about the increase in price, writing, “But, but I’ve just taken a pay cut.”

While the TV presenter was clearly kidding with his response, many people think it was an insensitive remark. Considering he’s a millionaire, he likely doesn’t have to worry about his TV licence increasing, and even if he did have to take a pay cut from time to time–which we doubt–he’s more financially stable than most. You can see his post below.

https://twitter.com/GaryLineker/status/1358850476553474053?s=20

Lineker received responses such as, “Poor joke that [it’s] okay for you millionaires but there [are a lot] of people who struggle daily and have to rely on [food banks] so even though the rise is nothing to you and other millionaires [it’s a lot] of money for some people,” and “A very bad joke actually offensive.”

The former footballer has yet to respond to the backlash, and considering he’s been very active on Twitter since this post, we’re sure he won’t.