It turns out, Ben Stokes really did defend two gay guys from a bashing during last month’s infamous bar fight.
If you missed the original story, Ben Stokes is an English cricketer who was in controversy last month after video footage emerged of the athlete in a fight outside of a bar with multiple men.
The video, and the inciting article, made it look like Stokes is the aggressor in the situation, and thus ended up in the athlete’s arrest.
Shortly after, however, word came that Stokes’s reason for being in the fight in the first place is because he was defending two gay men who were being attacked.
Most were skeptical if this was true or if it was just a made up lie to cover Stokes’s tracks, but in his defense two men have come out to verify the story.
Kai Berry and Billy O’Connell confirm that Cricketer Ben Stokes was only trying to defend the two from attackers.
O’Connell told the Sun:
“We were so grateful to Ben for stepping in to help. He was a real hero. If Ben hadn’t intervened, it could have been a lot worse for us.”
The two say that Ben Stokes allegedly met them in a club called the Clifton Triangle in Bristol before the event occurred. Along with his friend and teammate Alex Hales, Stokes befriended the two without revealing who he was. He even bought the two Jägerbombs.
“‘I chat to everyone and they were quite fit so we partied with them for a bit.” Barry said.
The group eventually decided to leave the first club to search out a new spot and that’s when the incident happened.
When asked why the pair didn’t come forth with this story earlier, they say its because they were scared.
“Towards the end of the fight, it all got a bit scary so we walked off,” said Barry.
While there are some doubts to the testimony, it could eventually lead to the dropping of Stokes’s charges and help him play in Australia next month.
