Rosie Jones has said that she decided to use an ableist slur in the title for her new Channel 4 documentary in order to “take control” of its use.
The comedian, who has cerebral palsy, is known for performing live stand-up and appearing on shows such as Would I Lie To You? and 8 Out of 10 Cats.
In July, she will host her own Channel 4 documentary about her disability, titled: Rosie Jones: Am I a R*****?. The show’s title has already caused controversy, with three contributors asking to be removed from the documentary due to its use of the slur.
Speaking to the Press Association 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.
“I fundamentally believe that people don’t take ableist slurs as seriously as other slurs, so I decided to put it in the title so that hopefully people will still realise how offensive it is.”
Jones continued: “This might sound very rude, I do hope disabled people watch it, but if I’m honest, this documentary is not for disabled people, ‘cause they already know all this s***. They don’t need to be reminded of the s*** we deal with every day.
“This is a film for non-disabled people who don’t know what ableism is... It is for non-disabled people who think it’s okay to sling that term and other equally abusive, ableist words in the pub willy-nilly. It is for them to see that it’s not OK.”
Jones on ‘Live at the Apollo'— (BBC/Open Mike/Ellis O'Brien)
Initially responding to the backlash to the documentary’s “very shocking” title, Jones explained: “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.
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“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’.”
Channel 4 also defended Jones, saying: “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.”
In the documentary, Jones will dive into the issue of ableism, exploring why social media platforms allow hate speech to perpetuate, speaking to families impacted by horrendous ableist abuse, and even meeting a troll who has sent abusive messages online to find out why they did it.
“All my life, when people feel awkward or uncomfortable around me, I break the tension immediately by cracking a joke, and it got to a point where I didn’t want to do it anymore,” she said.
“The reality is: it’s not OK. It’s not okay that I receive ableism on a daily basis. It’s not OK that people think it’s OK to call me a r*****. So it took a long time for me to be comfortable peeling away that humour armour that I had been wearing for 33 years in order to protect myself.”
Rosie Jones: Am I A R*****? airs on Thursday 20 July at 10pm on Channel 4.
Additional reporting by Press Association.
