Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA) is facing pressure to rethink the decision to hire Janey Godley for its Christmas pantomime over controversial social media posts.
The Scottish comedian is due to feature in the production of Beauty and the Beast at His Majesty’s Theatre, organised by the publicly-funded arts body.
But, she has come under fire for tweets which mocked people with disabilities, as well as victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
In a series of posts she used the highly offensive words known to be derogatory to disabled people, while also referring to the 1986 catastrophe in Ukraine as an insult.
North-east MSP Douglas Lumsden has now written to Jane Spiers, APA’s chief executive, over the hire, highlighting the tradition of making tickets available to some of the north-east’s most vulnerable residents.
Comments ‘grossly offensive’
“It is concerning that the lead performer in this year’s Pantomime is Janey Godley, undoubtedly a well-known actor but one with a history of offensive and derogatory language on social media in particular,” Mr Lumsden said.
“Slurs against people with a disability and victims of the Chernobyl disaster remain public and have never been apologised for.
“I have been contacted by many constituents who do not feel Ms Godley is an appropriate ‘star’ of a family pantomime and will be avoiding the show this year.
“Given these concerns, I would ask what checks Aberdeen Performing Arts made as to her suitability for hiring, and its position on her unacceptable references to the disabled.
“I am deeply concerned that public money could be used to support someone who has made grossly offensive comments about those with disabilities.”
Janey Godley ‘deeply sorry’ for tweets
As well as starring in APA’s pantomime, Ms Godley is also reportedly being paid £10,000 of public funds to front a Scottish Government advertising campaign around Covid-19.
After we contacted her representatives for comment, she published an apology on Twitter – but claimed some posts had been “faked” and that she had used the terms in response to other users.
“There are tweets from my past social media that are horridly offensive, I believe in progress not perfection and I am far from perfect,” she said.
“People have every right to go through my social media and see what values I hold and to find hurtful phrases and statements is shocking, I am deeply sorry to everyone I offended.
“Comedy is no excuse to use disgusting and hurtful words that affect people and I know many of you expected better of me.
“I apologise for every single word that upset people, I should have blocked and reported the accounts that threatened me and not replied with abhorrent heckles.
“There are fake tweets created to damage my reputation but the ones I wrote I take responsibility for.”
Craig Pike, the chairman of APA, said the organisation “stood by” its decision to hire Ms Godley.
“Panto by convention is topical but it is a scripted, acting role, not a stand-up gig and Janey Godley is cast as an actor playing a role,” he said.
“We approve the script and make a judgement call about content.
“In response to Douglas Lumsden’s comments about the use of public money to fund Janey Godley in panto, 88% of our annual turnover is earned income.
“Our panto is a commercial production and is not underwritten or subsidised by the public purse.
“The profits generated go entirely towards reducing our reliance on public subsidy and to fund our charitable work. The response to our casting announcement resulted in exceptional sales.”
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