Over the weekend we reported that Oluwaseyi Omooba, an actress recently cast as Celie in Leicester’s Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome’s co-production of the Broadway musical of The Color Purple, has come under scrutiny for a Facebook post written in 2014 in which she said homosexuality is not a choice and “not right.”
Now the theatre companies staging the production have distanced itself from Omooba’s statement and say they are investigating.
Wrote Leicester’s Curve and Birmingham’s Hippodrome theatres on Twitter: “On Friday a social media post from 2014 by one of THE COLOR PURPLE cast members was brought to our attention. The views shared in this post do not in any way reflect the views of Curve or Birmingham Hippodrome. We are continuing to investigate this and a full statement will be issued as a matter of priority.”
The Facebook post was surfaced by Hamilton actor Aaron Lee Lambert, who tweeted: “@Seyiomooba Do you still stand by this post? Or are you happy to remain a hypocrite?”
Added Lambert: “Seeing as you’ve now been announced to be playing an LGBTQ character, I think you owe your LGBTQ peers an explanation. Immediately.”
Omooba is the daughter of anti-LGBTQ pastor Adegboyega Omooba who advocates for gay conversion therapy and was recently awarded an MBE.
iNews reports: ‘Pastor Omooba has been involved in a string of anti-LGBTQ+ campaigns over the course of his career, including a failed attempt to stop anti-discrimination legislation against gay people in 2006. The legislation tackled discrimination banning hotels from refusing bookings from same-sex couples. He also campaigned against same-sex marriage, saying equal unions “devalue the meaning of marriage itself.” The pastor’s organisation Christian Concern, have rallied against LGBTQ+ equality and identities since they were first formed in 2004.’
