Former 'Hollyoaks' star Luke Jerdy has hit out Lysette Anthony.
Luke Jerdy
The 30-year-old actor - who played Jesse Donovan from 2016 to 2020 - accused Lysette, who currently stars as Marnie Nightingale on the Channel 4 soap, of making a "hurtful" comment after she was asked by a Twitter user why she had "said nothing in support of" Rachel Adedeji, who recently claimed she had experienced racism on the programme.
Answering the social media user, Lysette wrote: "Oh I will speak.. from a place of compassion and FACT..but I will NOT be bullied into safe, white, knee jerk rhetoric.. (sic)"
Former 'Oaks' star Luke retweeted her comment, and wrote: "If you want some FACTS...feel free to DM me. I was there when one of the incidents with Rachel happened, I heard it with my own ears. We are now patiently waiting for a response from Hollyoaks. Check with your colleagues and reach out before tweeting this stuff. It's hurtful. (sic)"
In response to Luke's tweet, Rachel wrote: "Love you! Thank you x x (sic)"
What's more, a fan replied to Luke's message asking why he didn't "stand up to" the alleged incident he claims he witnessed.
Jacqueline Boatswain - who portrayed Rachel's character Lisa Loveday's mum Simone Loveday from 2015 to 2019 - replied: "They both said something at the time."
Late last week, Rachel slammed Hollyoaks' response to the Black Lives Matter movement - calling for the soap to "do better" after Kelle Bryan (Martine Deveraux) announced plans for the show to launch a podcast about racism - and alleged she was once told "you're all the same" by a make-up artist.
She wrote in a statement: "I am disappointed with Hollyoaks' approach with showing solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement yesterday. Did black lives matter when I was told 'you're all the same' via a make up artist you employed and remains in employment to this day? Did Black Lives Matter when a number of female black actors were forced to drastically change their hair, because if not, the viewers 'would not be able to tell them apart'? Do Black Lives Matter when my fellow black castmates are deemed 'angry, aggressive and too vocal?' Did Black Lives Matter when referred to as 'bl*****s' by a senior member of the production team? Do Black Lives really matter to you if over the last four years at 'Hollyoaks', I have only worked with one black director? (sic)"
'Hollyoaks' have since announced they are "investigating", and insisted they have "zero tolerance on racism".
A post on their social media channels read: "Hollyoaks has zero tolerance on racism. We are taking Rachel Adedeji's comments extremely seriously and are investigating."
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