Nottingham Forest hero says Baddiel and Skinner abuse went too far after 'blackfacing' jokes

Comedians, and former hosts of the Fantasy Football League show, Baddiel and Skinner used to poke fun at Lee during his 90s.

Jason Lee has revealed that jokes made by comedic duo David Baddiel and Frank Skinner during his time at Nottingham Forest "went too far", deeply upsetting him and members of his close family.

Comedians, and former hosts of the Fantasy Football League show, Baddiel and Skinner used to poke fun at Lee during his 90s playing days for missing a number of guilt-edged chances while draped in Garibaldi red.

But some jokes have aged badly since, including one sketch where Baddiel used make-up to darken his skin to mock the player's appearance.

He also wore a pineapple on his head to draw attention to Lee's hairstyle, with the abuse soon moving into the stands.

Last week, former Manchester United star Luke Chadwick opened up about his battle with mental health after his footballing career started with his personal image being joked about by a fans and the media alike - and Lee sympathises with him.

“I tell you what, you couldn’t get away with that now, could you? Blackfaceing up,” the former striker told talkSPORT as he cast his mind back to how that show affected him.

“At the time I could have done without it, I’m not going to lie. I was a young player, 23 years of age, and playing in the Premier League, and I’d worked hard to get to the Premier League by the way.

“I started at Charlton and went to Lincoln at the age of 19 to play in the fourth division for two years. Then I went to Southend, played in Division One and got a move to the Premier League with Nottingham Forest where I played for three years.

“The actual adverse effects of being ridiculed for missing, listen, Darren [Bent] has been there, as a striker you miss opportunities, these things happen and I could deal with that all day.

“But then people are ridiculing you because of your appearance, and I knew a lot of people close to me, a lot of family members and friends, so many people who were upset by that.

“They were going too far. Just talk about the football, talking about someone’s appearance is something else.”