Rosie Jones ‘overwhelmed and emotional’ as fans praise documentary exposing vile ableist abuse
Rosie Jones. (Getty)
Comedian Rosie Jones has been praised by viewers after sharing her experiences of ableist abuse in her new Channel 4 documentary, Rosie Jones: Am I a R*tard?
Queer comedian Rosie Jones has said she has been “overwhelmed and incredibly emotional” by the positive response to her one-off Channel 4 documentary Rosie Jones: Am I a R*tard?
The documentary, which became the subject of controversy due to its use of an ableist slur in the title, examined the 33-year-old comedian’s personal experience with horrific online trolling, an issue she has has been vocal about following the “overwhelming” abuse she received after appearing on the BBC’s Question Time in 2021.
The documentary features several emotional moments as Jones, who lives with ataxic cerebral palsy, reads out the disgusting abuse she is bombarded with on the internet, including rape and death threats.
She then sets out to discover why disability discrimination is “often left unchecked”, particularly on social media platforms such as Twitter.
Throughout the documentary, Jones powerfully repeats the statement, “I am not a r*tard, I am Rosie f***king Jones”.
After the programme aired on Thursday (20 July), fans took to social media to praise Jones for shining a light on the daily reality faced by disabled people across the country.
“Wow this Rosie Jones documentary is hard-hitting,” one person wrote. “How absolutely horrific that she has to wear headphones every day to block out the abuse she gets, and how terrible that Twitter don’t consider the abuse as violating their policies!”
“Shocking, funny and brave. Not everyone can tick those boxes in a documentary,” declared another. “I would add sad too. Sad that such a documentary had to be made in the first place. But you nailed it, you documentarian you.”
Trans journalist India Willoughby added: “Really powerful and emotional. Thank you for doing this, especially confronting the troll.”
“Awful title aside, the Rosie Jones documentary is highlighting some really important issues. Disabled people are facing ableist abuse every day and social media platforms are not doing anywhere near enough,” another viewer tweeted.
Some viewers admitted it was the first time they were discovering the extent of the prejudice that disabled people face every day.
“I honestly didn’t realise the severity of the ableist abuse that disabled people are dealing with. Obviously I knew abuse happens because people are cruel but the sheer venom behind it and the threats are dementedly evil,” one person shared.
Other viewers are reminding people that even if they don’t enjoy Jones’ comedy, it doesn’t excuse online abuse.
“So many people on here totally missing the point of that documentary. It doesn’t matter whether you enjoy Rosie’s comedy or not, it’s the fact that absolutely NOBODY should be abused for simply existing,” one person wrote.
Jones subsequently took to Twitter to thank viewers for their kind words.
“Thank you for all the lovely comments about my documentary last night. I’m overwhelmed and incredibly emotional. As expected, I spent the evening off social media, surrounded by friends and beer. Lots of beer,” she wrote.
Am I a R*tard? is available to watch on Channel 4’s on-demand service All 4 now.
