Actress in Color Purple stage play under fire for past homophobic comments

Actress Seyi Omooba is receiving backlash over anti-LGBTQ comments made years ago.

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)

An actress playing in the lead role in The Color Purple stage play in England, Seyi Omooba, is under fire after anti-gay remarks re-surfaced possibly giving credence to some hypocrisy given that she’s playing a woman who engages in a same-sex relationship.

The critically-acclaimed story, written by Alice Walker, follows the story of Celie and the abuse she endured at the hands of a man during the early-to-mid 20th century. Celie ultimately meets a woman named Shug, who helps her to open up and muster up the courage to fight for her own freedom. The two develop a romantic and sexual relationship along the way.

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On Friday, it was announced that Omooba would assume the leading role as Celie (played by Whoopi Goldberg in the movie version).

However, actor Aaron Lee Lambert called out Omooba for 2014 Facebook posts condemning gay people, The NY Daily News reports.

Omooba wrote: “Some Christians have completely misconceived the issue of homosexuality” and that it is “clearly evident” what the Bible has to say in the matter.

“I do not believe you can be born gay, and I do not believe homosexuality is right,” she wrote. And even “though the law of this land has made it legal doesn’t mean it’s 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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Lambert is currently in the West End production of Hamilton.

He questioned Omooba about her past comments.

“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,” he said on Twitter.

Omooba’s comments caused outrage online.

 

 

Her comments prompted an investigation into the matter by Leicester’s Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome, which are both involved in the show’s production. They tweeted:

“The views expressed in the historic social media post by a member of Curve and Brum Hippodrome’s The Color Purple cast in no way reflect those held by either of our theatres. We will be looking into the matter and will issue a full response in due course,” they said.

 

The show is set to open June 28.

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