"The biggest thing I've done is age" - Ian Garry's wife Layla Anna-Lee defends 'How to be a WAG'; blames American audience for not getting sarcasm
The MMA community is enticed by the unfolding drama involving UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland's controversial comments about Ian Garry and Layla Anna-Lee's relationship.
Strickland's remarks reportedly prompted a response from Garry, who threatened legal action against the middleweight champion. The dispute revolves around Strickland's social media comments about Ian Garry's wife, Layla Anna-Lee, suggesting that she manipulated Garry into marriage.
This controversy is rooted in the revelation that Layla Anna-Lee, an English presenter, authored a book titled 'How to be a WAG,' offering guidance to women on forming relationships with professional athletes. These developments have thrust Garry's marriage into the public spotlight, with several fans pushing the narrative that the rising UFC welterweight contender was manipulated into the relationship.
It's important to note that Layla Anna-Lee's book was part of a satire segment when she worked as a celebrity guru, mingling with the WAGs and top celebrities at red-carpet events and after-show parties. She was also a presenter at the Best Fifa Football Awards in October 2017.
Most recently, she took to Instagram to intricately dissect the situation, elucidating how the material has been egregiously taken out of context. She asserted that the book, in her perspective, was a manifestation of pure satire, a piece of content that she believes was ahead of its time.
She underscored the lamentable reality that MMA content creators and the broader audience have been unable to perceive it through the lens of the sarcastic premise upon which it was founded.
She further highlighted the barrage of reprehensible hate messages and threats of assault directed at her. Anna-Lee took to Instagram to launch a series of stories, methodically addressing and dismantling the accusations one by one. She stated:
"Looking at the hate and the majority of the clips and the comments that I'm getting... the biggest thing I've done wrong is age. I've got older and I have birthdays every year, and that's f**king disgusting coming from a woman. Getting older is not acceptable."
"I wrote a book on 'How to be a WAG?' That statement in itself is a bit of a stretch. I can hardly call myself an author of an eleven-page audio satire content written in 2010. Now the context is key because it was during the FIFA World Cup... If you want to call me an author of that, sweet! It was more of a lighthearted podcast but I was way ahead of my time.That satirical look is really silly."
Head over to Layla Anna-Lee's Instagram account to check out the full story.
Ian Garry defends Layla Anna-Lee's book as satire amid public skepticism
Amidst the controversy surrounding Layla Anna-Lee's book, her husband Ian Garry staunchly defends the work, asserting it is pure satire. Garry is set to face Vicente Luque on 16 December 2023, at UFC 296.
Fans have been skeptical about the book, with several of them accusing Garry of being in denial. Taking to Instagram, Garry dismisses the scrutiny, writing:
"The satire book you all got lied about."