Channel 4 chiefs have stood by Yorkshire comic Rosie Jones over the ‘ableist’ title of her new documentary, which has seen a number of disabled contributors withdraw their consent to feature.
The confrontationally titled Rosie Jones: Am I a R*tard? sees the comic, who herself has cerebral palsy, set out to investigate, and educate viewers on, the discrimination and abuse disabled people face daily.
Not everyone has been supportive of Jones’ choice of title, however. Fashion and beauty influencer Shelby Lynch, who also suffers from spinal muscular atrophy; Kate Stanforth, an award-winning, wheelchair-using dancer from Northumberland and founded the Kate Stanforth Academy of Dance, and Lucy Dawson, a model who was wrongly diagnosed with a breakdown when she began suffering head pains as a student – she actually had autoimmune encephalitis, have all withdrawn from the project over the name.
Lynch told her 41,000 Instagram followers: “As some of you may know we were asked to take part in a documentary about Ableism and Online Trolling with a well-known disabled comedian. Talking about ableism on mainstream TV is obviously something that needs to be discussed but the way it’s happened isn’t something that I can support and all three of us spoke out against them.
“I didn’t want anything to do with the documentary unless the name was changed…as I was terrified that I would let the disabled community down and nothing would hurt me more.”
Stanforth, meanwhile, took to Twitter to urge her followers to complain to Channel 4 and Ofcom:
Also, here’s what you can do about the Rosie Jones documentary:
– Submit a complaint via C4https://t.co/QAdYPeBSFq
– Submit a complaint via Ofcomhttps://t.co/20F8y83LUH
– Voice your concerns on socialsPlease, as always, be kind. Proud of our community right now ❤️
— Kate Stanforth (@KateStanforth) July 2, 2023
Bridlington-born Jones has defended her use of the R-word, however: “I get it, a lot of people will find this word very shocking and upsetting,” she said in a video response to the reaction. “But in my opinion, society doesn’t take this word and other ableist forms of language as seriously as any other form of abuse from any other minorities. So, I said to Channel 4: ‘Let’s do it, let’s tackle the problem head on and use that word in the title and then, hopefully, people will think twice about using the word and other ableist slurs ever again’.”
My documentary, ‘Rosie Jones: Am I a R*tard?’ is coming to Channel 4 soon. This is the toughest thing I have ever made, but I am incredibly proud of it. I cannot wait for you to see this important piece of television. Here’s why I chose to put an ableist slur in the title. pic.twitter.com/m8VKWNOOPr — Rosie Jones (@josierones) June 30, 2023
The broadcaster has stood by Jones’ controversial choice of title for the show: “This film is an authored documentary by Rosie Jones to raise awareness and educate viewers about the issue of ableism and the scale of abuse she and other disabled people face daily,” a C4 spokesperson said in a statement.
“The use of the R-word in the documentary is within context of the subject matter being explored and specific to the abuse Rosie receives on social media. The film makes very clear it is an unacceptable and offensive ableist term and its inclusion was carefully considered in conversations with the editorial team, Rosie and a disability consultant.”
The documentary, which was produced by ITV Studios’ Twofour, premiered at BAFTA at the end of June. A broadcast TX date has not yet been confirmed.
