Micah Richards reveals the ‘truth’ behind Joleon Lescott’s infamous car tweet in 2016… when the defender was slammed for ‘accidentally’ posting a picture of a £121,000 Mercedes after Aston Villa’s 6-0 drubbing by Liverpool

Micah Richards has revealed the ‘truth’ about Joleon Lescott’s infamous 2016 car tweet. 

Aston Villa defender Lescott infuriated fans after tweeting a photo of a £121,000 Mercedes following a 6-0 thrashing against Liverpool with no caption or context.

He then drew mockery for insisting his phone accidentally tweeted the picture from his pocket – a version of events he maintains to this day. 

Lescott apologised to fans after Villa’s ‘lack of commitment’ in the home drubbing, with the club bottom of the league, but has never deserted his stance.

In the anniversary month of the tweet, ex-team-mate Richards has leapt to his defence.

Micah Richards has explained that Joleon Lescott was telling the ‘truth’ about his 2016 tweet

Lescott infuriated fans after a 6-0 loss to Liverpool in 2016 whe he tweeted a picture of a luxury car within 15 minutes of full-time

The defender tweeted this photo of a Mercedes-AMG S 63 Coupe with an ‘on the road price’ starting at £121,690

He told The Rest is Football podcast: ‘We play Liverpool and we get absolutely spanked 6-0. I think I was at fault for about three of the goals.

‘That tweet, I was actually in the car when Joleon sent that tweet. The thing is, he is actually telling the truth.

‘How he described it was something ridiculous – he’s sent it from his pocket and he didn’t know it went out.

‘But if you remember Twitter back in the day, the last picture in your photos – if you went on Twitter and press a button that picture would be on.

‘It must have been ready to send and he’s put it in his pocket and he’s accidentally sent the tweet.

‘Joleon used to have a car company and he used to give us cars for good prices, like lease deals.

‘In the picture was a S63 Coupe, all singing, all dancing and top of the range. It was offered to the lads. That’s the picture which went out.’

Lescott played the full 90 minutes at Villa Park, where supporters left early en-masse after booing their players as the hosts’ awful season reached a new low.

Lescott later tweeted that it was ‘totally accidental’ – tweeting from his pocket – but did apologise for Villa’s performance

Richards and Lescott were team-mates as Villa were relegated and remain friends to this day

Less than 15 minutes after the final whistle, the former England international posted a photo of a brand new silver Mercedes-AMG S 63 Coupe with an ‘on the road price’ starting at £121,690.

Lescott later released a statement on Twitter, insisting the tweet was entirely accidental, though the original post is yet to be deleted.

‘I’m not one for tweeting after games whether it’s a good, bad or indifferent results but I would like to apologise for the performance today, personally and collectively,’ Lescott wrote.

‘Liverpool are and were better than us today but that doesn’t excuse mine and the team’s lack of commitment for the 90 minutes. Again, apologies to all the fans.

‘I would like to add that the tweet sent out from my account involving a picture of a car was totally accidental. It happened whilst driving and my phone was in my pocket.’

The image of a vehicle that is well within a top Barclays Premier League player’s price range but far from that of regular supporters drew fury from fans online.

Lescott was earning close to £50,000 a week at Villa after signing from local rivals West Bromwich Albion. The tweet offered no caption or explanation.

Liverpool thrashed Villa 6-0 and fans labelled Lescott ‘disrespectful’ for his post

Reactions on Twitter labelled his post ‘inappropriate’ and ‘disrespectful’ while West Brom fans revelled in their former player’s mistake, calling the 33-year-old ‘Agent Lescott’.

He later said: ‘I can take the criticism of on the field. I’m a grown man. I can look in the mirror and know I’ve worked hard in my career. I don’t get carried away by criticism or praise. But the reaction was intense. People had a lot to say. Pundits, critics – these people act like they’ve never made a mistake before.

‘Not everyone has got a clean record. For me to accidentally tweet a picture is not the biggest crime that a footballer has ever committed. But I can understand the feeling of the fans who feel let down.’