Former Hollyoaks star Gerard McCarthy has responded to Coronation Street actor Dame Maureen Lipman following the news that he pulled out of the play Right Before I Go, which Lipman was announced for.
When Belfast and Call the Midwife actor McCarthy’s dropout was announced, the actor explained they did not “feel comfortable personally promoting [Lipman’s] involvement”. Lipman responded with an article in The Telegraph where she wrote: “I will not be bullied, nor will I allow anybody to tell me what to think.
“If that affects their ability to work with me, as opposed to convert me to their point of view, then they are lily livered.”
Getty Images
In a new response to that article on Instagram, McCarthy wrote: “For the avoidance of doubt: I have never met Maureen Lipman. I have never spoken to her. I have never contacted her. I have never asked for her to be removed from a production, nor have I ever refused to work with her. We were never scheduled to perform together. So if I have managed to bully her, I have done so with remarkably little effort.”
They explained that, upon learning of Lipman had joined the show, they privately told the producers that they would “not feel comfortable” promoting her involvement due to the “views she has publicly expressed about Israel and Gaza”, and made the decision to drop out after discussing with them.
McCarthy added that Lipman is “perfectly entitled” to express her opinions, but added that “free speech does rather have to work both ways” and referenced Lipman’s 2020 interview with The Guardian where she said she wouldn’t work with Maxine Peake and Miriam Margolyes.
Getty Images
McCarthy finishes their post by stating the decision had nothing to do with Lipman being Jewish and that they condemned antisemitism.
“My disagreement is with views Maureen has chosen to express publicly. Conflating criticism of those views with hostility towards Jewish would be both inaccurate and unfair.
“Maureen has also suggested that I should ‘grow up’. I sincerely hope that I will have the opportunity. Tens of thousands of children in Gaza never will.”
Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he’s covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I’m a Fish.