The lead actress in a stage production has been fired after it was revealed she had quoted the Bible on Facebook five years earlier.
Seyi Omooba was sacked by the theatre company in Leicester just days after she was cast as the lead role in the stage version of The Color Purple. The sacking came after Hamilton actor Aaron Lee Lambert shared a screenshot of the five-year-old “homophobic” comment Ms Omooba posted on Facebook.
In September 2014, the 25-year-old actress posted to social media saying: “Some Christians have completely misconceived the issue of homosexuality. They have begun to twist the word of God. It is clearly evident in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 what the Bible says on this matter.”
Ms Omooba went on to say: “God loves everyone, just because he doesn’t agree with your decisions doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you. Christians need to step up and love but also tell the truth of God’s word.”
Lambert took offence to Ms Omooba being cast as Celie, a central character in the story, because some view the character as being part of the LGBTQ community.
Lambert shared the screenshot of Ms Omooba’s post to his Twitter followers demanding an explanation: “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.”
Ms Omooba told the Daily Mail, the following day her agent called her and instructed her to keep her head down and not to speak to the media.
“Later, I was urged by the theatre and my agency to not only retract my post but apologise for what I said,” Ms Omooba said.
“I really wanted the role but what they wanted me to do was completely against my faith. I did not want to lie just to keep a job.”
The Daily Mail reports: “She was dropped from the starring role and dumped by her agents. She has since contacted six agents who had once been eager to sign her up. Only one responded, describing her as ‘talented but misguided’ and brainwashed by her faith.”
“I just quoted what the Bible says about homosexuality, the need for repentance, but ultimately God’s love for all humanity,” Ms Omooba said. “I stand by what I wrote, but had I known that it would have come to this, I would have set my account to the privacy mode.”
Ms Omooba has since filed for breach of contract against the theatre company and her former agents.