THE COLOR PURPLE actress says "I do not believe homosexuality is right" despite being cast in LGBTQ role

It was announced today that actress Oluwaseyi Omooba will play the lead role of Celie in the upcoming Curve Leicester and Birmingham Hippodrome production of The Color Purple.

Her theatre credits include Hadestown (National Theatre); Crystal in Little Shop of Horrors (Regent’s Park); Martha in Spring Awakening (Hope Mill Theatre) and Tilly in Junkyard (Bristol Old Vic and UK Tour). She also played the role of Nettie in the Cadogan Hall production of The Color Purple.

The Color Purple is an unforgettable story told over the course of 40 years, which follows courageous heroine Celie, as she journeys through joy, despair, anguish and hope in her own personal awakening to discover her unique voice in the world.

However, today, Hamilton actor Aaron Lee Lambert found this post (pictured) from 2014 and has asked “@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.”

These views on homosexuality aren’t really inline with the theatre world, which has a large percentage of gay performance working within it and is seen as a ‘safe space’ where people will not be judged for who they are and so these comments from Oluwaseyi Omooba are extremely worrying to hear when she is about to start working on a UK theatre production.

The message she broadcast on her public Facebook page here was five years ago and so perhaps her views have changed over time but this is extremely worrying to see her views online like this.

Hopefully she will explain her views as Aaron Lee Lambert has requested. We are all entitled to our own opinions but if she does have an issue with homosexuality then perhaps theatre, a playing an LGBTQ character is not the place for her.

I will keep you all updated on this worrying matter.
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