Following a controversy over homophobic tweets, producers have dropped actress Seyi Omooba from an upcoming UK production of The Color Purple in which she would have played a bisexual character.
The controversy began after Hamilton star Aaron Lee Lambert tweeted out screenshots of a 2014 tweet made by the actress in which she deemed homosexuality immoral. She also claimed that people are not born gay, and seemed to imply that Christian faith can “cure” same-sex attraction. The Color Purple is widely considered a seminal work of queer literature, as it concerns an abused wife named Celie who undergoes a transformation after falling in love with another woman. Naturally, the revelation of Omooba’s tweets sparked an immediate backlash for casting a homophobe in an LGBTQ role.
Related: Theater that cast homophobic actress won’t commit to firing her
@Seyiomooba Do you still stand by this post? Or are you happy to remain a hypocrite? Seeing as you’ve now been announced to be playing an LGBTQ character, I think you owe your LGBTQ peers an explanation. Immediately. pic.twitter.com/GK2xbzZYgy
— Aaron Lee Lambert (@aleelambert) March 15, 2019
The production of The Color Purple would have seen Omooba perform at the UK venues The Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome. Now spokespeople for both venues have released a statement explaining that Omooba’s role will be recast.
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In part, it read: “The comments made by Seyi in that post have caused significant and widely expressed concerns both on social media and in the wider press. Following careful reflection, it has been decided that Seyi will no longer be involved with the production. This decision was supported by the Authors and Theatrical Rights Worldwide. The audition process, as ever, was conducted professionally and rigorously, led by an exceptional casting director with actors who are evaluated on what they present in the audition room. We do not operate a social media screening process in the casting of actors.”
Neither venue had further comment on the matter, and no announcement has been made as to who will replace Omooba in the role.
DCguy
Bigotry is getting expensive.
Good.
GlobeTrotter
Good for them! We’re tired of the homophobia, the racism, the sexism and all the other -isms. Speech is free but words have consequences! Times have changed, no one wants to support bigotry in the 21st. century.
iamru2
I definitely don’t agree with her but I’m wondering if Mr. Lambert attempted to contact her directly first before he went running to Twitter to publicly shame her and garner praise for his actions which I think was the real motivator for him.
KiwiJello
I would agree with you, but she posted it on twitter and that is where he responded. She made it public, not him in this case.
jjose712
Well, he asked her a question, she could simply respond to that question.
Of course she is still an homophobe and there are actors who worked with her that know that. Nobody came after her for their other roles, but playing a lesbian was simply a bit too much.
Anyway, no matter how talented she is i doubt she has a bright future on musical theatre
DCguy
I find it interesting how much leeway people are desperate to give bigots.
She POSTED ON A PUBLIC FORUM, yet it is everybody’s job to privately reach out to her and coddle her bigotry?
No, she’s an adult, she attacked and flung hate at millions of people worldwide and yet somehow everybody needs to reach out to her?
Sorry, She made those tweets, she didn’t rescind them, her bosses have every right to expel that hatred from their show.
Scott Amundsen
She shamed herself, not the other way round. If she has reservations about the character she does not need the job.
jcoberkrom
Public shame a homophobe is a problem because . . . . . .
Chrisk
Wow. Anti-gay yet willing to take on a gay role. She should get the hypocrite of the year award for her dumb ass.
QueerTruth
Better. She got publicly shamed for her bigotry, she wrecked her professional reputation and was fired.
That’s much better than an award. 😉
Wicked Dickie
Never heard of Ms. Omooba or Mr. Lambert, but congrats Mr. Lambert on getting a stage actress fired from a job. Maybe he can find a white actress to play the part in The Color Purple, since you’re playing a white part in Hamilton. Cheers and break a leg.
jjose712
Sorry, but that seems a cheap excuse to condone homophobia.
She is an homophobe and thought it was a good idea to play a lesbian character.
As far as i know the only character who was accurated in terms of race on the original Hamilton was the one who played Jonathan Groff.
DCguy
Oh look, the troll account is desperately trying to deflect from the topic so it can defend a bigot.
Wicked Dickie
First off, I’m far from a troll. Second, A LOT, and I mean A LOT of “Christians” hold those beliefs in their hearts. Same as Catholics, Mormons, Jews. Name the religion, and they all hold the belief that homosexuality is a “sin”. She didn’t call for the burning of them at the stake. And for all we know, she might have been educated by another homosexual person who showed her more love and compassion.
startenout
Since you’re begging for attention, here’s some…
First, getting someone fired for their homophobic views when they’re trying to profit their lives off of OUR stories should be the goal of each and everyone of us from the bigoted actress to the club owners who want our money but not our marriages. While I don’t need gay roles to only be played by actors, I DO need outright bigots not to profit from my hard earned money if I can help it.
Second, while the characters portrayed in “Hamilton” may have been white in real life, the ROLES in the musical were created FOR people of color using musical styles FROM people of color BY a man of color who understood how to draw parallels to the fact of Hamilton’s immigration to this country with the plight of immigrants today. So Mr. Lambert is definitely playing a role written to be a man of color, not a white role, whether you can comprehend that or not.
Gigi Gee
Please change your handle to “Stupid Dickie.”
DCguy
@wicked Dickie said “A LOT, and I mean A LOT of “Christians” hold those beliefs in their hearts. Same as Catholics, Mormons, Jews. ”
You mean a lot of bigots hold anti LGBT beliefs. The fact that they have CHOSEN to be bigots, and then gone on to find passages in random books that give them an excuse to be is irrelevant. Rapists hold the “BELIEF” that it is ok for them to rape women. Just because someone has a belief means nothing. I hold the “BELIEF” that all Christians, Mormons, Muslims etc… should send me $10.00 every week. That is my SINCERE BELIEF. So by your standards I guess they all have to right?
Black Pegasus
Good. I prayed to Zeus on this issue and he answered with action.
greybat
I made an Offering to Dionysos and got the same result!
Maybe she can find a nice Church Play to do.
Kangol
Bye bye, Seyi Omooba! Not only did you blow your chance at a major stage role in a play by a Black author with a nearly all-Black cast, but you’ve shown yourself to be an intransigent homophobe, so you’ll be lucky to get a decent or major part in the UK or US ever again. I thought she’d at least fake an apology, but clearly she couldn’t even be bothered to do that.
DCguy
Mic Drop
startenout
Truth
stanhope
Apparently she has been an ugly dumb runt (new math r=c) for awhile. She is not a major star and now never will be so she is as easy to replace as Charmin toilet paper with Scott…i doubt anybody’s ass will know the difference.
Polaro
Good. We don’t have a problem with homophobia in the black community. Nope. Or maybe we do.
Kangol
What’s Mike Pence’s excuse? He’s not black. I mean, just cut the racist BS for a change.
DCguy
Interesting how the same accounts that come on to defend Republicans are always the ones most eager to attack black people. Hmmmm
woodroad34
There has to be empathy to inhabit a part…she looks like she lacks that and wouldn’t have been very good in it. I guess the producers felt the same way. Most bigots are bad actors since they lack that requisite trait.
draven
I feel as was born gay. I told my parents when I was about 6-7 years old. I told them I liked the same as me. I have never been attracted to the opposite sex. I’m also black. I turned 58 years young yesterday! I’m also a Christian. I accepted Jesus into my heart and life at 12 years old and was baptized. Life as been interesting these 58 years and I’ve always have a strong faith in “God” and his son Jesus Christ. John 3:16. I will pray that this person is ok and she finds a place in her heart to just love everyone. Amen.
stanhope
A noble thought, in the meantime she joins the many other sheneequas in the unemployment line. Maury Povitch her next starring role.
WindsorOntario
Or ‘COPS’ or maybe even ‘Live PD’!
gregg2010
This is similar to the homophobe Kelsey Grammer playing the lead in “La Cage aux Folles” on Broadway many years ago. Unfortunately, at that time, the social media platforms did not exist. He got away with it . . .
Jack Meoff
Wow is Kelsey Grammer a homophobe? I find that hilarious since he is one of the gayest straight men I have ever seen on TV. For years I thought he was gay. Maybe it is just deflection from his own sexuality.
iminheatlikeacat
How dare you lie about Kelsey Grammer – the guy from Frasier, who worked, over a decade, with two gay co-stars of the show – just because he’s politically republican?
“Grammer supported the Tea Party movement on economic issues such as small government and lower taxes. He does not support the traditional Republican platform on social issues such as same-sex marriage, stating “I think marriage is up to two people who love each other”.”
HTH.
DCguy
@iminheatlikeacat
Except you’re a liar. You don’t get to vote for Jeffrey Dahmer and then go “Well, I liked the OTHER stuff he was for, not the eating people.”
Grammer didn’t give a crap about economics as was exposed during his divorce. His ex wife handled ALL the money issues, he didn’t even pay attention. He voted Republican because he supports their views, and the line about the Tea Party being about economics died around the time people found out Michelle Bachman existed. So nice try.
jonasalden
An even better question: Why did they hire an African to play a Black American? I know, I know. Off-topic. But maybe they could correct THAT too when they recast the part.
Jack Meoff
That’s a bit ridiculous. What about every time an Australian, Canadian or English actor has played an American or every time an American has played a nan-American role in a foreign production? Does the fact that this was a black role make a difference?
theafricanwiththemouth
I doubt such a thing came into your small mind when Will Smith played the Nigerian Igbo doctor in concussion movie (you, like everyone else, probably thought he did a good job) or when a good number of black Americans were cast to play major roles in Black Panther (a movie about a fictional but still purely AFRICAN society with the two main leads being African American not African!) and also many other times Americans whether white or black have played various African roles (eg God’s of Egypt amongst others).
You want to see a difference in black skinned actors taking up black skinned roles? fine, you want even more divide? cool, but at least state your claim with wisdom instead of being a biased piece of sh*t who only thinks from a very narrow ignorant perspective. You choose to see a problem with an African playing an African American role but will comfortably ignore the fact that African Americans have played and will still gladly play African roles when such parts are available without considering that maybe such roles should be played specifically by African actors. But I’m sure it’s so enjoyable and interesting to see just how well black americans can twist their accent to sound African (which by the way, has always been poor to average, never good and always having the same stereotypic weird tone/sound.)
You are truly just an a*s tbh.
Kangol
@jonasalden, you’re sounding absurd. Africans, Black Britons, etc. play African Americans and vice versa. They’re all Black people. Just as White Britons, Canadians, Australians, South Africans, etc. play White Americans, and White American actors play White people (and people of color, still, unfortunately) all over the globe. Don’t be an idiot, please.
BlueRamirez
Are you trying to be funny?
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Nasty crunt got just what she deserves…
BlueRamirez
Omoomba oomba, you are pathetic! A theater actress who doesn’t know history & literature! Omoomba oomba away! You have no place in theater!