Take That’s Howard Donald dropped from Pride event over anti-LGBTQ+ Twitter activity
Howard Donald will no longer headline Groovebox’s Nottingham Pride Festival in July. (Getty Images/Twitter)
Howard Donald, a member of pop group Take That, has been dropped from the line-up of Groovebox’s Pride event after the singer-songwriter was found to have ‘liked’ transphobic content on Twitter.
Donald was previously listed as a headline act for Groovebox, an independent event which takes place over the weekend of Nottinghamshire Pride, on 29 July.
Groovebox confirmed that Donald would no longer be headlining or appearing at the festival on Saturday (17 June) after a social media backlash over a number of tweets the Take That star had ‘liked’, before his account was apparently deleted on the same day.
PinkNews managed to screenshot a selection of the offending tweets before Donald’s account became inactive.
In a statement posted on social media, Groovebox said: “In light of recent events, Howard Donald will no longer be playing at our Nottingham Pride Festival on Saturday 29th July at Binks Yard.
“We would like to offer our thanks to the public for alerting us to the situation this morning and also appreciate your patience whilst we spoke to the relevant parties.
“We are working on confirming a replacement headliner alongside Horse Meat Disco, Tayce, Danny Beard & ESSEL for Nottingham Pride and will make an announcement in due course.”
Nottinghamshire Pride shared its concerns, noting that it has no affiliation to Groovebox.
A statement added: “It has been brought to our attention that there has been some anti LGBTQ+ endorsement from a performer at the Groovebox Pride Festival. This has not been organised by Notts Pride. We are really concerned about this, and we reject homophobia, transphobia and biphobia in our city.”
Donald ‘liked’ content from misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, posts that slammed an inclusive period campaign featuring trans men, videos of anti-trans pundit Kellie-Jay Keen – better known as Posie Parker – and a tweet from right-wing organisation Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, calling for Disney to be “defunded” for holding a Pride in Concert event on 24 and 25 June.
After Groovebox posted their statement in which they confirmed Donald’s removal from the festival, the Take That singer-songwriter took to Instagram to post an apology on his Stories.
Donald wrote: “I have made a huge error in my judgment liking social media posts that are derogatory towards the LGBTQIA+ community and for that I am deeply sorry and I know I have let everyone down.
“I am really disappointed in myself and I am sorry for any hurt that I caused by my uneducated actions.
“I clearly have a lot to learn and it’s a priority for me that I do this.”
Other headliners at the Groovebox Pride Festival include Horse Meat Disco, ESSEL and Sam Sax and there will be a drag cabaret from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK alumni Danny Beard, Sminty Drop and Tayce.
PinkNews has previously reached out to Howard Donald’s representatives for comment on this issue.
