Actress loses role in U.K.’s ‘Color Purple’ due to homophobic comments

British actress Seyi Omooba will no longer star as Celie in the U.K.’s upcoming musical The Color Purple.

Seyi Omooba, who was to play Celie in U.K.'s The Color Purple, will no longer play the role due to homophobic comments.

Mar 22, 2019

Seyi Omooba thegrio.com — Seyi Omooba attend Magic Radio's event 'Magic At The Musicals' held at Royal Albert Hall on May 21, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

British actress Seyi Omooba, was set to play Celie in U.K.’s Leicester Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome’s revival of musical The Color Purple, but will no longer play the role.

According to Playbill, Omooba is under fire after a Facebook post from 2014 resurfaced in which Omooba stated, “I do not believe you can be born gay, and I do not believe homosexuality is right.”

“Christians, we need to step up and love but also tell the truth of God’s word. I am tired of lukewarm Christianity, be inspired to stand up for what you believe and the truth,” she wrote.

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The Grio reported earlier this week, the Facebook status surfaced last Friday when Hamilton actor, Aaron Lee Lambert tweeted the status and asked, “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.”

@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 1985 film features a timid main character by the name of Celie who is constantly bogged down and abused by the man she’s living with. Through her abuser, Celie meets what she thinks is a dynamic women by the name of Shug Avery. Shug eventually gets Celie to speak up for herself as a woman. As Shug helps Celie find herself, they also engage in a romantic and sexual relationship.

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Omooba has also appeared in Ragtime at Charing Cross and the National Theatre’s Hadestown in the U.K., was selected on talent and not by social media according to The Curve and Hippodrome.

“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,” they said in a statement. “We do not operate a social media screening process in the casting of actors.”