Comic admits 'a lot of people will find this word very shocking and upsetting'

Several contributors have dropped out of Rosie Jones’ Channel 4 documentary because of an offensive slur in the title.

In the film, the comedian examines the vile abuse she receives over her cerebral palsy, and did not flinch from using the harshest word in its title, Rosie Jones: Am I A R*tard.

In a video posted on her social channels, the comedian addressed the reasoning for using the word, saying: ‘I get it, a lot of people will find this word very shocking and upsetting.

‘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

But the title has caused some contributors to pull out, including dancer and disabled activist Kate Stanforth,w ho  wrote on Instagram: ‘Myself and a number of influencers were originally part of the new Rosie Jones documentary which is due to air soon. 

‘There have been a number of issues raised throughout the process, which lead myself and all of my friends to withdraw consent to use our material. This includes a lengthy discussion on why we think the title will be damaging to the disabled community and major pressure to change this. 

‘Regardless, I still hope the documentary highlights the abuse disabled people get on a daily basis and thank the disabled community who were involved in this for all rallying together on this one for putting as much pressure on the team as possible so we could try get the correct result, even if that meant scrapping our hard work. We got you.’

Fashion influencer Shelby Lynch said she ‘didn’t want anything to do with the documentary unless the name was changed’ while in a now-deleted comment  disabled model Lucy Dawson said: ‘I do think the doc will be brilliant & discuss real important topics which is why it’s even more of a shame to use that title – I definitely won’t be watching because it’s gonna be too triggering’.

Channel 4 have stood by the title, issuing a statement saying: 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.

‘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.’

‘We have removed the contributors from the documentary at their request and fully respect their decision to withdraw.’

No air date for the ‘unflinchingly personal’ documentary – which Jones calls ‘the toughest thing I have ever made’ – has previously spoken out about the ‘exhausting’ levels of abuse she receives whenever she appears on TV, especially on Question Time.

She told the BBC’s Access All podcast that she received ‘literally every ableist abuse under the sun. They told me that I should be in a cage. I shouldn’t be on TV. I should die. And it was because I was exposing myself to a different kind of audience. I think Question Time is brilliant but it attracts a lot of angry people.’

Published: 3 Jul 2023