Rita Ora has told fans she’s 'deeply sorry' after flouting lockdown rules to celebrate her 30th birthday on Saturday (28 November) evening. It’s believed that the singer’s secret birthday bash at Casa Cruz restaurant in Notting Hill, West London was attended by more 30 pals including Cara Delevingne and TOWIE’s Vas Morgan, who were seen sneaking into a back entrance with bottles of alcohol.
At one point in the evening, police were seen peering through the windows of the restaurant and trying to open a locked security gate.
Rita was reportedly visited at home by police yesterday (30 November) and voluntarily paid a £10,000 fine for not adhering to lockdown restrictions. 'Rita knows her actions were wrong which is why she has voluntarily paid the £10,000 fine to the council. She hopes this will go some way to making up for her error of judgement,' a source told MailOnline.
The popstar has now issued an open apology to her 16million followers on Instagram.
Rita began: 'Hello all, I attended a small gathering with some friends to celebrate my 30th birthday. It was a spur of the moment decision made with the misguided view that we were coming out of lockdown and this would be OK... I'm deeply sorry for breaking the rules and in turn understand that this puts people at risk. This was a serious and inexcusable error of judgement. Given the restrictions, I realise how irresponsible these actions were and I take full responsibility.'
She continued: 'I feel particularly embarrassed knowing first-hand how hard people have worked to combat this terrible illness and being fully aware of the sacrifices that people and businesses have made to help keep us all safe. Even though this won't make it right, I want to sincerely apologise.'
Rita’s apology comes after she faced widespread criticism on social media for breaking the rules. One Twitter user wrote: 'When will people who break lockdown rules realise they are not just breaking rules but putting lives at risk.'
READ MORE::a[Come On Rita Ora, Hosting A Dinner Party During Lockdown Is Wildly Irresponsible]{href='https://graziadaily.co.uk/celebrity/news/rita-ora-lockdown-party-birthday/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer'}