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.”
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5 Comments
Leon
October 01, 12:32Good for her,she cannot definitely play the dinner so as not to fall into sin,a sin that would ruin her Christian faith
EBUKA
October 01, 22:08I don’t understand her, she really wanted the role but couldn’t because of what they wanted of her? Hello, the role is about a woman who is a Lesbian and becomes unapologetic about it and reclaims herself through it. Everything about the novel is about lesbianism and she really wanted to play the role? She needs understanding
Bells
October 02, 05:43So if she is given the role of a prostitute she won’t play it because her faith is against prostitution?
Tristan
October 03, 00:31She’s just confused. How can she still want to play a lesbian role when she thinks “what they want me to do” is against her Christian faith?
Considering the level of exposure and critique would follow th
Wow, wow, wow! She isn’t getting jobs from the “Heathens” and she is suing. Sister afubedi ife at all.*laughs in Spanish* Should we tell her that that court she wants to go to is seethed with LGBT legal practitioners, the jury inclusive? When she loses the case finally, she will get some sense.
Malik
October 03, 10:17Burn the homophobes!!!