Irish actor Paul Mescal is no longer training with an Australian gym that is linked to Daniel Kinahan.
Video footage emerged on Sunday of the 25-year-old Kildare native training at the MTK Gym in Sydney, where he is currently filming.
A spokesperson for Mescal said on Monday that the production company he is working with weren’t aware of the gym’s links to Kinahan and that he's no longer training there.
The emergence of the footage on Twitter came in the same week that a BBC Panorama investigation highlighted Kinahan's involvement in boxing.
While he has no convictions, Daniel Kinahan was named in the High Court in 2018 as being a senior figure in organised crime on an international scale.
A journalist who was involved in the making of the BBC documentary received a death threat after Panorama was aired.
Following public criticism of Mescal, a spokesperson confirmed on Monday afternoon that he no longer has any involvement with the gym.
“Goalpost Pictures and Chapter 2 are in production in Australia on a new feature film starring Paul Mescal.
“As part of his preparation for the film, Paul has been required to undertake boxing training.
“The production was not aware of the connection between the gym and the man named by Irish courts as a crime boss. Paul is no longer training at the facility.”
Since its co-founding by Kinahan in 2012, MTK has opened gyms all over the world.
Lawyers for MTK Global told the BBC Panorama programme that:
“It is true that Mr Kinahan provides some personal advice to a number of boxers managed by MTK Global and we are instructed that Mr Kinahan also provides such advisory services to boxers who are managed by other worldwide boxing management companies too.”
They also said that Kinahan had never owned, controlled or been an employee of MTK Global, and that he has no links to criminality.
