The Color Purple actress axed from show for anti-gay post

Actress Seyi Omooba has been dropped from an upcoming tour of musical The Color Purple after it emerged that she said homosexuality “isn’t right” in a 2014 Facebook post.

The Facebook post went viral when Hamilton star Aaron Lee shared a screenshot on Twitter and said she owed an explanation to the LGBT+ community, as she was set to play a queer character in The Color Purple.

The companies producing the show, Leicester Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome, announced this evening that they had axed Omooba from the production after the post resulted in “widely expressed” concerns about her casting.

“Following careful reflection it has been decided that Seyi will no longer be involved with the production.”

– Joint statement from Leicester Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome

“Following careful reflection it has been decided that Seyi will no longer be involved with the production,” the joint statement said. “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,” they finished.

Seyi Omooba was set to play queer character Celie in The Color Purple

Omooba was set to play the lead role of Celie in the musical production of The Color Purple, which is based on the Pulitzer prize winning novel by Alice Walker.

In The Color Purple, Celie is an abuse survivor who learns how to be confident and independent after meeting Shug, a woman who she develops an intimate and sexual relationship with.

Omooba’s historic Facebook post drew huge attention when it was shared on Twitter this week.

In the post, Omooba said that she does not believe people “can be born gay.”