Rosie Jones has been left “overwhelmed and incredibly emotional” by the response to her new documentary, the controversially titled Rosie Jones: Am I A R*****.
The comedian, 33, spoke about her own experiences of ableist abuse in her one-off programme for Channel 4.
When the documentary’s name was released, three contributors shared that they had asked to be removed from the documentary due to its use of the ableist slur.
It aired on Thursday (20 July), with viewers seeing Jones – who has cerebral palsy – explain how she wears headphones in public to drown out abuse and is bombarded with discriminatory bullying on social media.
On social media, viewers praised Jones for her work on the “much-needed” documentary.
“Shocking, funny and brave. Not everyone can tick those boxes in a documentary,” one commenter wrote. “I would add sad too. Sad that such a documentary had to be made in the first place. But you nailed it, you documentarian you.”
“Thank you for advocating for people,” another viewer tweeted. “My son is only 11 and is routinely called the R word at school. It’s so so awful. He’s seen some of your stand up and thinks you’re great. Will wait for a bit longer to show him the documentary though.”
One commenter added: “It was very sad to see you getting upset, but a much needed, well put together documentary. Thank you for all you do. My partner who has CP and I would love to get involved in any campaign you are doing to stop online abuse. We have to change our community for the better.”
“Thank you Rosie you are a total inspiration,” another put it.
On Friday (21 July) morning, Jones thanked viewers for their kind words.
“Thank you for all the lovely comments about my documentary last night. I’m overwhelmed and incredibly emotional,” she tweeted.
“As expected, I spent the evening off social media, surrounded by friends and beer. Lots of beer. Kind regards, Rosie F***ing Jones.”
Previously speaking about the documentary, Jones said that she had chosen the title in order to reclaim the slur that had been “used as a weapon towards me all my life”.
“I need to say, first and foremost: it was my choice, my idea,” she said. “I really wanted to take control of it and say, ‘This is not OK’... I understand that some people may be offended, or will be very upset by it, but at the same time, it is unfortunately still a word that has been used every day towards me.
