Soccer star Lukas Podolski is reportedly considering a lawsuit against Breitbart News for using his photo with an article on illegal immigration — a topic that's highly controversial around the world, not just in the U.S. since President Donald Trump took over the White House.
The former Germany international soccer player appeared in a picture under the headline of a Breitbart story — "Spanish Police Crack Gang Moving Migrants on Jet-Skis," according to BBC News.
The action pic was actually taken years before and thousands of miles from Spain.
Podolski, widely recognized after the role he played in the German national teams' 2014 FIFA World Cup championship, has apparently already discussed a potential lawsuit with his legal team, despite the fact that Breitbart has since removed his picture and apologized for what it said was an error.
"A previous version of this story included an image of Lukas Podolski on a jet ski. This image appeared as an illustration of a person on a jet ski,” the editor said. “Breitbart London wishes to apologize to Mr. Podolski. There is no evidence Mr. Podolski is either a migrant gang member, nor being human trafficked."
Podolski's manager, Nassim Touihri, said the fact that this even happened is “a mess," Newsweek noted.
“Lukas distances himself from it and won’t let himself be exploited. Our lawyer is already involved," he added.
The image of Podolski on a jet ski was captured in Brazil back in 2014. At the time, Podolski was gearing up for Germany's championship run.
Podolski now plays for Japanese side Vissel Kobe.
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