A family from Redcar, North Yorkshire, say they are living in fear after far-right activist Tommy Robinson shared a video falsely portraying a black man with his white granddaughters as suspicious.
The footage, originally posted to TikTok by Natalie Ayeni, was stolen and reposted by Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, to his 1.4 million followers. In his post, Robinson wrote: “Wtf is even going on here? Where are the parents?!”
The video shows Natalie’s husband, 46-year-old musician Olajuwon Ayeni, and his brother playing in a park with the couple’s granddaughters. Since the clip was circulated by Robinson and other extremists, Ayeni has been racially abused and branded a paedophile online.
Ayeni, who has been married to Natalie for five years, was suspended by his management company after the allegations spread. Their MP, Anna Turley, was forced to step in with a letter of good character to defend him.
Speaking about the ordeal, Ayeni said:
“Music is my life. My career is being tarnished by lies. I feel unsafe, scared and sad, as my brother and I have been threatened with violence simply for spending time with our family.”
The couple say they have faced direct threats in the street. Natalie described one incident:
“Two lads passed us and said, ‘I hope you’re not them off that video or we’re coming back to slash you up.’ Someone was even shouting ‘paedophile’ outside our house. We just can’t go out.”
Despite repeated pleas, Robinson has not removed the video.
The family say the impact has been devastating:
“It’s ruined our lives,” Natalie said. “We were just looking after our grandchildren in the park. Now we’re scared to even leave the house.”
Cleveland Police said they were providing the family with support and advice, but confirmed that while personal threats are criminal, sharing the video itself does not constitute a crime. Superintendent Emily Harrison urged the public to stop circulating the footage or spreading false claims.