Christian actress, 26, suing for £128,000 after being cut from lesbian role in theatre performance of The Colour Purple over anti-gay Facebook rant is accused of misusing tribunal because she turned down her full pay of £4,309 for whole contract
Seyi Omooba is bringing case for religious discrimination and breach of contract
She has been offered unconditionally £4,309, a virtual hearing was told today
But the religious performer maintains she has suffered extensive career damage
Tom Coghlin QC, for theatre trust, accused her of misusing tribunal procedure
An actress who was dropped from the lead role of
The Color Purple for posting alleged homophobic remarks online did not realise the character she was due to portray was a lesbian.
An employment tribunal heard Seyi Oomba was due to play the lead character, Celie, in
The Color Purple at Leicester’s Curve Theatre in 2019. But she was later dismissed over anti-LGBT+ comments she made on Facebook in 2014.
Omooba is suing the Leicester Theatre Trust and her agents Michael Garrett Associates Ltd (Global Artists) for around £128,000 for her dismissal, claiming religious discrimination and breach of contract.
She is being represented by the legal arm of Christian Concern, an organisation co-founded by her father. The group said the case will “expose the mechanisms of censorship at the heart of the theatre industry”, adding that “any dissenting views against LGBT+ ideology, especially Christian beliefs, are currently incompatible with a theatrical career”.
Sacked actress kept no gay roles rule secret yahoo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yahoo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A devout Christian actress is suing a theatre and her agents for £128,000 after she was dropped following an alleged homophobic post on Facebook.
Seyi Omooba, 25, is claiming claiming religious discrimination and a breach of contract against the Leicester Curve Theatre and her former managers Global Artists Agency.
She was appealing virtually at a Central London Employment Tribunal represented by the Christian Legal Centre.
It follows her firing from the adaptation of the Alice Walker novel, The Colour Purple, just a day after she was cast as the lead character of Celie in 2019.
It came after another actor challenged her over a 2014 Facebook post where she said she did not believe homosexuality is right .
Actor sacked for homophobia didn t know she had lesbian role in Curve production
Seyi Omooba, 26, was cast as Celie in The Color Purple
The Curve theatre in Rutland Street, Leicester
Never miss another Leicestershire story by signing up to our free email updatesInvalid EmailSomething went wrong, please try again later.
Sign up
When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thank you for subscribingWe have more newslettersShow meSee ourprivacy notice