"Why can't we just do the right thing?" Marcus Rashford defends charity deals
Rashford pushed back on claims he profited commercially from his child-poverty campaigning, pointing to his Burberry partnership's funding of after-school food and safe spaces for children.
Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford defended his charity partnerships on July 21, 2021, after claims circulated that he had benefited commercially from his campaigning for free school meals for children, according to ITV News. Rashford, then 23, asked in response, "Why has there always got to be a motive? Why can't we just do the right thing?"
Rashford outlined the impact of his brand partnerships in a piece published the same day, writing, "Last summer, 1.3m children had access to food support, through my relationship with Burberry children have a safe place to be after school where they will be fed," according to a Guardian-sourced quote referenced in coverage of the same statement.
ITV News reported the defense came after the political magazine The Spectator was set to run a story suggesting Rashford had "benefited commercially" from his activism. The specific allegations in that Spectator piece, and any response from the magazine to Rashford's rebuttal, were not detailed in the sources reviewed for this restoration.
The record on free school meals
Rashford had become the youngest person to top the Sunday Times Giving List after raising 20 million pounds in donations from supermarkets for groups addressing child food poverty, according to the reporting. His Burberry partnership was described as funding a number of donations to youth charities, including London Youth and Norbrook Youth Club in Manchester.
The public reaction
Bustle's coverage documented an outpouring of public support for Rashford after his tweets, including from figures beyond football and journalism. Former England striker Gary Lineker called the planned piece "disingenuous, spiteful nonsense" and described Rashford as "an inspiration and a hero." Labour MP Jess Phillips said "Marcus Rashford has done nothing wrong but he doesn't have to be perfect to do good regardless." Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham told Rashford, "Greater Manchester could not love you more." Author Malorie Blackman invoked a Gandhi quote about change-makers facing resistance, encouraging him to "Keep on moving."
What became of the Spectator piece
The Spectator article Rashford pre-empted was never published, according to a later first-person account from the writer who had submitted it. That account said the piece began as a hoax submission to the magazine's "Wokeyleaks" tips column -- deliberately fabricated material, including the Rashford claims, meant to test whether the magazine would run unverified gossip. Editor Fraser Nelson reportedly grew "extremely excited" about running it as a potential cover story before Rashford's tweets triggered public backlash; the writer then told Nelson and a colleague on a call that the submission had been fabricated, and the magazine dropped the piece.
Rashford's fuller thread, posted the night before
Rashford's original statement was posted as a multi-tweet thread from his own account on July 20, 2021, ahead of the Spectator piece running. It began: "Just heard @spectator are planning to run a story on me tomorrow about how I have benefitted commercially in the last 18 months ... To clarify, I don't need to partner with brands. I partner because I want to progress the work I do off the pitch and most of any fee I would receive contributes to that." The thread went on to raise the possibility of increased commercial appeal following his advocacy, asking rhetorically, "Do I have a larger commercial appeal following the u-turns? I'm sure. But I'm also a Manchester United and England international footballer."
What the coverage leaves open
The retrieved reporting frames Rashford's statement as a direct rebuttal to a specific commercial-benefit allegation, but does not include the full text of the original Spectator claim, any dollar or pound figure attached to what critics alleged he personally profited, or comment from Burberry itself on the structure of the partnership. Those specifics were not established in the sources reviewed.
US In News compiled this archived account from contemporaneous coverage by ITV News, Rashford's own posted statement, and a Guardian quote surfaced via Wikiquote. It restores a story originally published on this site in July 2021; figures are as reported at the time.