Liverpool’s Lime Pictures is facing a new allegation of racial discrimination following claims from a former The Only Way is Essex cast member.
Vas J Morgan, who appeared on the Lime Pictures-produced show from 2014 to 2018, posted a statement on Instagram accusing TOWIE of “systematic racism.”
The allegations come just days after actress Rachel Adedeji raised questions about the treatment of black cast members on Hollyoaks.
In response, Lime Pictures, which also produces the soap, said it strove to have “zero tolerance of racism or any form of discrimination across all of its shows” and launched an internal investigation.
Morgan said he wanted to speak out after his comments underneath a Black Lives Matter Instagram post had been removed. Also writing on Instagram, he said that during his time on TOWIE he was “consistently put into situations that perpetuated the same racial stereotype” and “was almost never allowed to show any sides of my personality that wasn’t angry, aggressive or negative”.
Morgan added that he was told he was the “token representation of minority”.
“While I don’t believe that I am responsible for educating other people on racism or the meaning of black lives matter, it is fundamental to understand that until black lives matter, all lives can’t matter,” he said.
“While I have been conditioned to expect uneducated comments, like the one above, I was deeply saddened by what happened next.”
The actor said he had heard racist language being used casually on the show “countless” times.
“The fact that it wasn’t directed at me doesn’t make it less painful to hear,” he added. “The experiences I had on the show are part of the systematic racism that for the first time has had a spotlight put on it on a global scale.
“This systematic discrimination starts from the top down. From leadership positions within the network, to the writers’ room, to our day to day producers.”
Morgan said he had only worked with one black producer during his time on TOWIE, and had never met a black executive or person in a position of power.
In response, Lime Pictures said: “We are concerned to have read Vas’s recent comments about TOWIE, and got in touch with him yesterday evening in the hope we can discuss the issues he’s raised at his earliest convenience.”
