Rock star says he was re-enacting TV scene after video appears to show him acting out Isis-style beheading in desert 
 
 Sir Rod Stewart has denied mocking up an Islamic State-style beheading in the desert and claimed he was in fact recreating a scene from Game of Thrones. 
 
 The rock veteran, 72, was seen in a since-removed video on a dune in Abu Dhabi pretending to cut the throat of a companion who was positioned in front of him on his knees. 
 
 The scene, posted on Instagram by his wife, Penny Lancaster, was reminiscent of several propaganda films released by Isis, including footage of the killing of Alan Henning, a British aid worker. 
 
 Rod Stewart’s ‘beheading’ is less offensive than tabloid hypocrisy | Marina Hyde Read more 
 
 But in an apology, Stewart said he was playing out a scene from the fantasy TV drama Game of Thrones. 
 
 The singer said: “From re-enacting the Beatles’ Abbey Road crossing to spontaneously playing out Game Of Thrones, we were simply larking about pre-show. 
 
 
 
 “Understandably, this has been misinterpreted and I send my deepest apologies to those who have been offended.” 
 
 
 
 Relatives of David Haines, an aid worker who was executed in September 2014 by Isis, expressed their anger at Stewart’s actions on Friday. Haines’ daughter told the Daily Mail: “This actually happened to my dad and it’s not something to joke about... I think it’s disgraceful that a celebrity who is thought of as a role model would do this sort of thing.” 
 
 
 
 Her stepmother, Haines’ second wife Dragana, called Stewart’s stunt “immature and completely irresponsible” and asked that he apologise to the families who had lost loved ones to Isis. 
 
 She went on: “All we want to do is try to live our lives in as normal way as possible under the circumstances. I want my daughter to have a happy childhood and she does not need to be reminded of her loss every now and then by people who unfortunately find it laughable.” 
 
 Stewart had performed in Abu Dhabi and is on a world tour with forthcoming dates in the US and Mexico. He performed at the O2 in London last weekend. 
 
 A flurry of Isis beheadings – many carried out by the British extremist Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John – drew global attention when the terrorist group released high-quality footage of the grisly deaths. 
 
 Among his victims were Henning, from Salford; James Wright Foley, an American photojournalist; Steven Sotloff, an American journalist; David Haines, a British aid worker; and Peter Kassig, an American aid worker. ||||| The daughter of ISIS execution victim David Haines today accused Sir Rod Stewart of pursuing a 'cheap laugh' in an 'appalling' film where he appeared to stage a mock execution in the desert. 
 
 Bethany Haines, the daughter of David Haines, has branded the singer's actions 'disgraceful' and told MailOnline: 'This actually happened to my dad and it's not something to joke about'. 
 
 Today Sir Rod, who is worth an estimated £160million, made a humbling apology after he appeared to mimic an ISIS beheading in a 'sick' video made while frolicking in the desert with his wife Penny Lancaster. 
 
 He said that he had been 'larking around' before his show in Abu Dhabi last night and said it was a Game of Thrones reenactment not an ISIS execution. 
 
 Bethany's aid worker father David, 44, was captured by extremists beheaded in early September 2014 by executioner-in-chief Jihadi John. 
 
 As the shock video emerged she told MailOnline: 'I think it's disgraceful that a celebrity who is thought of as a role model would do this sort of thing. There's some things that are funny but that isn't.' 
 
 She added: 'I had a lot of respect for Rod Stewart, now you couldn't pay me to listen to his music'. 
 
 David Haines' widow and Bethany's stepmother, his second wife Dragana, told MailOnline: ‘It is immature and completely irresponsible. 
 
 ‘The least he can do is apologise to all the families who have lost their loved ones in such a horrible way.' 
 
 In trouble: Rod Stewart (top right) faces a storm today after he appeared to recreate an ISIS-style execution in the desert - as his wife Penny sits in front of him in the sand 
 
 Bizarre: Rod can be seen asking his friend to get on to his knees - he then pulled his head back and pretended to cut his throat 
 
 Furious: Bethany Haines, pictured at the funeral of her father David Haines, right, has branded the singer's actions 'disgraceful' and told MailOnline: 'This actually happened to my dad and it's not something to joke about'. 
 
 Dragana, who is fighting breast cancer, added: ‘All we want to do is try to live our lives in as normal way as possible under the circumstances. I want my daughter to have happy childhood and she does not need to be reminded of her loss every now and then by people who unfortunately find it laughable. 
 
 ‘And at this point in time, I don't want to be stressed by such things even more. I need all my strength to beat the cancer and be strong for my little big girl. 
 
 ‘To them it might have been just a joke, but for us it is additional stress and more pain.’ 
 
 Upset: Dragana Haines,44, pictured on her wedding day with her late husband, said Sir Rod 'should apologise to all the families' of those who have died 
 
 Rod's actions mimic the large number of murders carried out by ISIS' executioner-in-chief Jihadi John, who beheaded dozens including Mr Haines and Alan Henning, 47, from Salford, in 2014. 
 
 Jihadi John was later eviscerated in a drone strike after becoming the world's most wanted man because of his barbaric acts. 
 
 Bethany Haines said: 'Instead of putting his time and effort into a cheap laugh at people's expense, he (Rod) should be putting his time and effort into helping the people affected by what's happened in Syria and everyone who's been affected by Isis.' 
 
 Critics today called the stunt 'sick', 'stupid' and 'offensive' to victims and their families with some saying he should lose his knighthood. 
 
 After the video emerged Sir Rod said that he had been 'larking around' before his show in Abu Dhabi last night and said it was the execution was a Game of Thrones reenactment not an ISIS execution. 
 
 He added: 'Understandably this has been misinterpreted and I send my deepest apologies to those who have been offended'. 
 
 Rod's video was posted on Instagram by Penny Lancaster as the star performed in Abu Dhabi last night. 
 
 He is is on a world tour and will head to America next, with dates in Las Vegas and Florida before going to Mexico. He performed at the 02 in London last weekend. 
 
 The mock execution film was captured by his wife Penny as they did a 'Beatles-style' walk across the top of a sand dune. 
 
 But after doing an Abbey Road inspired video Rod then pretended to behead a friend while his wife Penny and others rolled in the sand. 
 
 Penny sat on the dune not knowing that her husband was carrying out the mock execution behind her. 
 
 Game over: After the 'joke' ends Rod returns to his friends as Penny sits in the sand unaware of what had unfolded 
 
 Sandy afternoon! Penny Lancaster posted a snapshot of herself and Rod Stewart lazing on the dunes 
 
 Later the 72-year-old singer soaked up the sun with his wife, with the Loose Women presenter showing her her famously long legs in a pair of tiny denim shorts. 
 
 Clearly relishing the warm sun, Penny posted a picture of herself relaxing on the sand with her husband alongside the caption 'sandy afternoons.' 
 
 Penny wraps an arm around Rod who is wearing an unbuttoned white shirt, trousers and a pair of sunglasses. 
 
 Both the couple, who have been married for nearly ten years, were smiling broadly as they snuggled up together. 
 
 From re-enacting the Beatles' Abbey Road crossing to spontaneously playing out Game Of Thrones, we were simply larking about pre-show. Understandably, this has been misinterpreted and I send my deepest apologies to those who have been offended Sir Rod on his 'misinterpreted' film 
 
 In another snap, Penny is shown sipping a drink while showing off new henna tattoo encircling her hand with the caption: 'henna time!' 
 
 Rod also got his own tattoo, with an inking readying 'Celtic' on his forearm in honour of his favourite football team. 
 
 The Maggie May singer has been busy performing a string of international dates with gigs in Las Vegas, mexico and Florida all lined up. 
 
 But the pensioner's continued success story hasn't given him delusions of grandeur, 
 
 Last weekend, his wife Penny posted several Instagram shots of the couple travelling to his O2 gig by tube. 
 
 It came weeks after Sir Rod Stewart had football fans giggling into their Sunday roasts after an eccentric performance on the Scottish Cup draw. 
 
 The 72-year-old rocker smiled mischievously at the camera as he pulled out the balls of each team with tongue-in-cheek enthusiasm, before shouting out their numbers. 
 
 His antics left viewers wondering if he had enjoyed a drink or two before appearing on air, with many sharing their amusement on social media. 
 
 Happy with henna! Penny Lancaster sipped a drink while showing off detailed inkings around her hand yesterday 
 
 Sneaky tattoo! Rod posted a snapshot of himself with a new henna 'Celtic' inking - a tribute to his beloved football club 
 
 'From the overground to the Underground!': Penny uploaded a snap of cheeky Rod on the Central Line tube last weekend 
 
 Rod Stewart had football fans giggling into their Sunday roasts after an eccentric performance on the Scottish Cup draw 
 
 The 72-year-old rocker smiled mischievously at the camera as he pulled out the balls of each team with tongue-in-cheek enthusiasm 
 
 Sir Rod was accompanied by former Celtic defender Alan Stubbs on the fifth round draw, who appeared to be both amused and bemused by the rock star's behaviour. 
 
 However, his flamboyant attire, a dapper green blazer with a leopard print cravat, and eccentric gestures were not the only things raising eyebrows, at Airdrie's Excelsior Stadium in North Lanarkshire. 
 
 Celtic fan Stewart seemed to get so carried away that he accidentally got a six and a nine mixed up, incorrectly revealing that Greenock Morton had drawn Celtic away. 
 
 Thankfully, the tie was quickly corrected to Celtic vs Inverness moments later. 
 
 But after finding out that he had given Brendan Rodgers' team a home draw, Sir Rod cheered and gave a little first pump. 
 
 The memorable event ended with Stewart accidentally ignoring a handshake from Scottish Football Association president Alan McRae and giving a thumbs-up to the camera. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| 1/46 14 August 2017 An artist’s impression showing the proposed London Garden Bridge. The £200m plan to build a bridge covered with trees over the River Thames in central London has been abandoned. The Garden Bridge Trust said it had failed to raise funds since losing the support of the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan in April EPA 
 
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 Sir Rod Stewart says mock execution was Game of Thrones prank Read more 
 
 Admittedly, there are questions to be asked. Primarily: why did none of the media outlets that ran this footage headline it “First cut is the deepest”? I don’t know exactly why it was those subeditors got into the business, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t to leave that one on the cutting-room floor. Shame on them. 
 
 Before we go on, though, let’s take a closer look at the footage. We set our scene in the Abu Dhabi desert, where Rod and the rod-tourage are dancing along the top of a sand dune. The rear is brought up by Penny, who captions it: “Rod Stewart (leader) band doing a Beatles sand dune crossing.” Not quite, Penny – they weren’t doing a conga across Abbey Road. Anyway, after that Penny peels off and descends the dune while behind her back, Rod seeks a volunteer from the line-up for a purpose as yet unknown. A woman appears to put herself forward but she’s rejected in favour of a bloke, because ultimately Rod Stewart is and always has been a ruddy gentleman. The bloke kneels down, Rod wields the imaginary knife; the deed is done. But still, nothing in the footage is as slashed-to-the-waist as Rod’s shirt. Then it’s down the dune for a bit of cuddle with Pen. As her next caption has it: #sandyafternoons. Every picture tells a story. 
 
 For long-term admirers of Rod, such as me, the incident is yet another amusing addition to the canon of a man whose spirit is permanently distilled in the 1978 album cover of Blondes Have More Fun, in which Rod is shown wrapped round a brunette. He is by all accounts a laugh who revels in his good fortune, and who – tellingly – has yet to find the wife who doesn’t want to spend a very jolly and amicable Christmas with all the ex-wives. I suppose this business in the desert may feel a little off-colour to some – but then, so did the hilarious telegram he sent to his mate Elton John’s eyebrow-raising wedding to Renate Blauel in 1984. “You may still be standing,” it read, “but we’re all on the fucking floor!” 
 
 Isn’t he majestic? I can’t think of anything more unbearably vulgar than demanding good taste from our rock stars. Mainly, then, Rod’s desert antics are to be welcomed for the bind in which they placed the Daily Mail. On Wednesday, after he’d been snapped travelling to his O2 gig on the London underground, the Mail ran an article headlined: “In praise of Rod Stewart and what luvvies can learn from him”. Barely 24 hours later … well, what the hell are they supposed to do with this? How many Hail Central Lines do you have to say to atone for this? 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘After he’d been snapped travelling to his London O2 gig on the tube, the Mail ran an editorial headlined: In praise of Rod Stewart and what luvvies can learn from him.’ Photograph: Lorne Thomson/Redferns 
 
 Alas, we know the timeworn path these things now have to take – and you can be sure it doesn’t count for anything that Rod sang the theme tune to the Falklands war. A line has been crossed. A line in the sand. Even since I have typed the above, Rod has felt moved to issue an apology for the “larking about”. Far from being a mock Isis execution, he clarifies somewhat hopefully, what they were doing was “spontaneously playing out Game of Thrones”. 
 
 Aha. Wrong John, guys! He was being Jon Snow, not Jihadi John. Clearly – clearly – the papers have gone and got themselves confused by an ecosystem. If Sir Rod had done it on snowy Ben Nevis in January, they could have headlined it “The KNIGHT’S watch”. As it is, he’s cocked up with the backdrop. Rod is consequently now several hours into a classic modern Wonderland scandal, in which people are calling for him to be stripped of his knighthood – presumably because they’re insufficiently gifted ironists to shout: “Off with his head!” 
 
 For the benefit of the last 300 earthlings not to have earned a media studies degree from the University of Life, I merely offer a reminder how this offence process typically works. Rod Stewart’s wife posts a silly video on Instagram. Then a reporter (or many reporters) rings up the family of someone who was genuinely beheaded by Isis – “Hello there! Sorry to bother you … ” – and asks them if they’ve seen it. They probably haven’t, so they are directed towards the clip. Then they are asked how distressed they are, and how much it has upset and offended them and shamed their dead beloved’s memory. I will leave you to decide who has behaved most offensively in this chain of events. 
 
 In the meantime, do remember that Rod is a chap who has added to the gaiety of various nations, which is infinitely more than can be said for the endless armies of halfwits taking offence on others’ behalf. I can only hope his desert storm blows over quickly. No one wants to see this get to the point where the PR solution is a sombre acoustic version of I Was Only Joking, performed in an undisclosed Levant location for hero Brit special forces. (Actually, what am I talking about? Would definitely watch.) ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites.
– A video of Rod Stewart pretending to behead a man kneeling in front of him on a sand dune in the Abu Dhabi desert sure gives the impression that he's imitating Islamic State executioners. Not so, according to Stewart. The 72-year-old singer says the video of him among a group on the dune—initially posted to Instagram by Stewart's wife but since deleted—actually shows him re-enacting a scene from Game of Thrones, per the Guardian. "From re-enacting the Beatles' Abbey Road crossing to spontaneously playing out Game of Thrones, we were simply larking about" before an Abu Dhabi show, the singer says in a statement. "Understandably, this has been misinterpreted and I send my deepest apologies to those who have been offended." Twitter users still say the act was "deeply stupid," per the Independent. That's nothing to how John McCarthy views it. The former hostage, kidnapped in Lebanon in the 1980s, tells the BBC Stewart turned "a grotesque thing into a kind of pantomime." But columnist Marina Hyde offers another viewpoint at the Guardian. After wondering why no one referenced Stewart's "the first cut is the deepest" lyrics, she encourages people to "remember that Rod is a chap who has added to the gaiety of various nations, which is infinitely more than can be said for the endless armies of halfwits taking offense on others' behalf," specifically reporters calling up relatives of ISIS victims to ask how much the video "offended them and shamed their dead beloved's memory."