Sacked actress 'kept no gay roles rule secret'

Seyi Omooba claims she was discriminated against in her dismissal from the play

An actress, sacked over a Facebook post on homosexuality, kept her "red line" of not playing gay characters "secret" from directors, a tribunal heard.

Seyi Omooba was cast as Celie in a musical production of The Color Purple at Leicester Curve Theatre in 2019.

The character is often shown as having a lesbian sexual orientation - the intended interpretation for the show.

But Ms Omooba, a devout Christian, said she was not informed of the production's take.

It was announced in March 2019 she would no longer be part of the musical after the old Facebook post resurfaced.

Her 2014 message said people could not be "born gay" and she did not believe homosexuality was "right".

The 26-year-old actress has brought a claim of about £128,000 against the theatre and her former agents on the grounds of religious discrimination and breach of contract.

But lawyers representing the venue say the dismissal about which she complains is over a role she would have refused to play anyway.

On Tuesday, the Central London Employment Tribunal heard Ms Omooba had previously told her agents, Michael Garrett Associates Ltd (Global Artists), she would not play a gay role or do sexually explicit scenes.

However, she said she did not tell the play's directors of the stance as she did not understand the character to be lesbian.

She admitted she had not read the full script before accepting the lead role in January 2019, but "probably" would have done by the time rehearsals began in May.

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Tom Coghlin QC, for the Leicester Theatre Trust, said the venue would have been left "high and dry" because Ms Omooba would have pulled out after learning of the lesbian portrayal.

He suggested it was an "unbelievably unprofessional approach to take".

Mr Coghlin said: "We've agreed you had a red line, your position was you wouldn't play Celie if she was to be played as a lesbian... and you didn't share it with the producers, you kept it secret."

Ms Omooba replied: "No because my interpretation was I didn't believe she was. I didn't feel like I needed to. I didn't believe that that's what this production was going to be."

Mr Coghlin had told the hearing on Monday: "Her choice was to resign or be dismissed and she chose to be dismissed."

The Facebook post was shared by Hamilton actor, Aaron Lee Lambert, who called Ms Omooba a "hypocrite" for taking on The Color Purple role.

The tribunal continues.