The 'Hot Right Now' singer is 'deeply sorry' after sparking backlash for hosting a party with a group of friends in a Notting Hill restaurant to celebrate her 30th birthday.
- Dec 1, 2020
AceShowbiz - Rita Ora has issued an apology after breaking London lockdown rules for her 30th birthday party on Saturday night (28Nov20), calling it a "serious and inexcusable error of judgement."
Pictures obtained by Britain's The Sun newspaper showed the "Hot Right Now" star partying with a group of around 30 friends, including Cara and Poppy Delevingne, at Casa Cruz restaurant in Notting Hill.
The party clearly went against national restrictions put in place until Wednesday (02Dec20) amid the coronavirus pandemic, which forbids people from mixing indoors with members of other households, and could potentially cost Casa Cruz £10,000 ($13,197) if it was their fourth breach of the rules.
Following backlash surrounding her party, Rita took to her Instagram Story on Monday to apologise, writing, "Hello all, I attended a small gathering with some friends to celebrate my 30th birthday. It was a spur of the moment decision made with the misguided view that we were coming out of lockdown and this would be OK."
"I'm deeply sorry for breaking the rules and in turn understand that this puts people at risk. This was a serious and inexcusable error of judgement. Given the restrictions, I realise how irresponsible these actions were and I take full responsibility."
Touching on the fact that her psychiatrist mother had returned to work as a doctor on the frontline amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Rita continued, "I feel particularly embarrassed knowing first-hand how hard people have worked to combat this terrible illness and being fully aware of the sacrifices that people and businesses have made to help keep us all safe. Even though this won’t make it right, I want to sincerely apologise."
At one point on Saturday evening, police officers were seen attending the venue - peering through the window and trying to open a heavy metal door.
A spokesperson for The Metropolitan Police told the publication, "Police were called at 9.10pm on Saturday to reports of a potential breach of Covid regulations in W11."
