Homophobic Actress, Seyi Omooba, after getting dropped from The Color Purple, now plans to sue

Actress Oluwaseyi (Seyi) Omooba is suing for religious discrimination after she was dropped from the production of The Color Purple in March for a 2014 social media post she made which was decidedly homophobic.

Omooba was set to play the lead role in a musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s award-winning novel, which is about a sexual abuse survivor who regains her confidence after developing a sexual relationship with a woman.

She was dropped from the Leicester Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome’s revival of the musical after West End Hamilton actor Aaron Lee Lambert shared a screenshot of her 2014 Facebook post. The post quickly went viral, resulting in a social media outcry with many calling the actress homophobic.

In the post, Omooba said she did not believe people could be born gay, and described homosexuality as a sin – “legal” but not “right”. Lambert questioned how she could possibly star as Celie in this important LBGTQ+ work while holding such views.

“I really wanted the role but what they wanted me to do was completely against my faith. I did not want to lie just to keep a job,” she told The Daily Mail, referring to the urging by Leicester’s Curve Theater and her agency, Michael Garrett Associates, to retract the post and apologise – something she refused to do so, citing her Christian faith.

“I just quoted what the Bible says about homosexuality, the need for repentance, but ultimately God’s love for all humanity,” she added, adamant that she is not homophobic.

“I stand by what I wrote, but had I known that it would have come to this, I would have set my account to the privacy mode.”

The Daily Mail reports that Omooba claims she is a victim of religious discrimination. Omooba says she is no longer invited to auditions and has been unable to find a new agent, so she has instructed lawyers to file for breach of contract against the Curve Theatre and her former agents Michael Garrett Associates. She is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre.

Michael Garrett Associates have yet to comment, but Leicester’s Curve Theatre said it stands by an earlier joint statement with the Birmingham Hippodrome, which said “…the comments made by Seyi have caused significant and widely expressed concerns both on social media and in the wider press. Following careful reflection, it has been decided Seyi will no longer be involved with the production.”