Former Bayern Munich and Manchester City player Jerome Boateng has addressed his ex-girlfriend’s suicide for the first time – saying he has been ‘denied the right to grieve’.
The defender’s former partner Kasia Lenhardt killed herself in February 2021, just six days after Boateng made a raft of accusations against her in an interview with German outlet BILD.
He said Lenhardt, who rose to fame on TV show Germany’s Next Top Model, would often ‘threaten to destroy’ his career and blackmail him with fake accusations of domestic abuse.
Boateng had been in a relationship with another of his former partners, Rebecca Silvera, when he met Lenhardt – who would go on to get his name tattooed on her ribcage.
However, the pair’s relationship imploded to the point that the fashion model branded the footballer ‘the devil’ and vowed to ‘fight back’ once she had recovered from their public break-up and the resulting media fallout.
Lendhart was tragically found dead in her Berlin home on the day of her son’s six birthday – less than a week after Boateng’s interview.
Jerome Boateng has addressed his ex-girlfriend’s suicide for the first time in a documentary
Kasia Lenhardt killed herself in 2021 after Boateng made a swathe of accusations against her
Ahead of the broadcast of a three-part documentary about himself seen by BILD, Boateng has now addressed his ex-girlfriend’s death by saying: ‘I have lost a person whom I loved very much.’
He added: ‘I’ve noticed publicly that I’m being denied the right to grieve. Only I can answer what’s going on inside a person. I’m still processing her death.’
Discussing the interview he gave to BILD about Lenhardt before she died, Boateng also admitted that he ‘misjudged the situation in retrospect’ and ‘should have handled it better’.
The publication’s former editor-in-chief Johannes Boie has also admitted: ‘We would not publish this interview today.’
In the 2021 interview with BILD, Boateng said: ‘Kasia became my girlfriend by breaking the relationship with my ex-girlfriend Rebecca and my family and blackmailing me.
‘So I decided to stick with Kasia and try to make it work. Even making the relationship with her public was due to pressure from Kasia to do so. It wasn’t mine.
‘During our relationship, Kasia often threatened to destroy me. She threatened to ruin my career and even try to make me lose my children.
‘Kasia said she would do so by accusing me of beating her. She knew that my children’s mother accused me of the same thing and that we have a lawsuit over it.
Boateng said he has been ‘denied the right to grieve’ the death of his former partner Lenhardt
‘Kasia contacted my children’s mother and said she would help her in court. Everything just to destroy me.’
He even went so far as to claim that the model used fake social media profiles to attack him and ‘spread lies’.
‘I hope she gets help that she urgently needs,’ he added.
Lenhardt hit back, saying she had in fact ended the relationship because of Boateng’s ‘lies and constant infidelity’.
She branded Boateng ‘the devil’ and said: ‘I will definitely speak up, but I have to collect myself. Please give me time.
‘I will fight back! Because I’ve never been so deceived, used and lied to. Give me a moment.’
A friend of Lenhardt’s told the Daily Mail in 2021: ‘She died a week after Jerome gave an interview in which he said their relationship was over. He said some really nasty things about Kasia. She was very upset by it.’
Following Lendhart’s death, Boateng’s own mother also sent a document to a Berlin lawyer where she accused him of ‘abusing women for years’.
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Lenhardt had branded Boateng ‘the devil’ and promised to ‘fight back’ before her tragic death
She wrote: ‘For years, my son has been abusing women psychologically and physically, now Kasia Lenhardt has taken her own life and he still does not want to bear the consequences of his behaviour.’
German outlet Der Spiegel revealed the message and further voice messages obtained from Lenhardt. The lawyer explained she wanted to sue Boateng for assault prior to her tragic death.
Boateng has continued to deny the allegations labelled against him by Spiegel. The player’s lawyer responded in March, explaining: ‘Due to ongoing proceedings, it is currently not possible for our client to answer your questions in detail.
‘Therefore, basically: they are simply misinformed to a large extent; beyond that, it seems that you are only being provided with selective information.’
Boateng last year was found guilty of bodily harm against his former partner. He avoided jail but was given a suspended fine of just over £168,000 and a warning after committing premeditated bodily harm against the mother of his twins in 2018.
The German World Cup winner had denied the accusation.
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