SCOTTISH comedian Janey Godley has revealed Nicola Sturgeon reached out to her as she felt suicidal during a recent backlash over offensive tweets.
Posts Godley had made between 2011 and 2016, dug up by American news website The Daily Beast, were labelled “horrific” by the comedian herself as she apologised for her past language.
As well as using slurs for minorities, further tweets were labelled racist for Godley’s use of tropes in criticism of prominent Black celebrities including Kelly Rowland and rapper 50 Cent.
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The backlash led to her being dropped from Scottish Government Covid adverts, from a Zero Waste Scotland campaign, from a role in a pantomime in Aberdeen, and from other booked events.
Speaking to The Times about the effect of the backlash, Godley said she had been guilty of “horrible, lazy stereotyping”.
She added: “I shouldn’t be, as a woman, using language that makes people feel othered. I’ll always be ashamed of that.”
The comedian also said she had considered suicide at her lowest point.
She said: “I almost killed myself because I thought, ‘I’m a really bad person. I’m a horrible monster. There are no redeeming features here.
"At six in the morning I just thought, ‘there isn’t any point. If I go, all this will go, all this will end’.
“But then I thought, ‘If I die, [racism] will still exist. If I die, what will that solve?’ It won’t solve anything.
“And plus I had my Amex bill to pay.”
Godley revealed that the First Minister had privately messaged her to “to ask if I was OK” as the media storm was raging.
Asked by the BBC about Godley’s tweets, Sturgeon said that they were “completely beyond the pale”.
When life is difficult, Samaritans are there – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
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