Who is Shila Iqbal, why was she sacked from Emmerdale and what were the soap star’s offensive tweets about?
EMMERDALE actress Shila Iqbal has been fired from her role just one month after she was given a permanent position. She lost her job due to using the N-word in racist tweets written when she was a 18-year-old student in Rochdale. Who is Shila Iqbal? Iqbal is a 24-year-old actress had only just secured a […]
EMMERDALE actress Shila Iqbal has been fired from her role just one month after she was given a permanent position.
She lost her job due to using the N-word in racist tweets written when she was a 18-year-old student in Rochdale.
Who is Shila Iqbal?
Iqbal is a 24-year-old actress had only just secured a permanent role on the ITV soap Emmerdale which first aired in October 1972.
She has also appeared in Lala’s Ladiez, Citizen Khan and the film Eaten by Lions.
She has now deleted her Twitter account.
Why was she sacked from Emmerdale?
The 24-year-old actress played Aiesha Richards on the long-running soap and has been fired by ITV bosses after historic tweets were unearthed.
It is said she was fired from the show immediately after chiefs were shown the messages, according to the Mail Online.
Soon after the tweets and sacking emerged, Shila shared an impassioned apology in which she said: “I am terribly sorry and take full responsibility for my use of such inappropriate language…
“I have paid the price and can no longer continue the job I loved the most at Emmerdale. Although I was young when I made the Tweets, it was still completely wrong of me to do so and I sincerely apologise…
“The only consideration I would ask is that I have recently received hateful tweets telling me that as a Muslim my Emmerdale role means that I am ‘committing sinful acts, promoting sin and deliberately going against the Quran’…
“We live in sensitive times for members of all communities and especially those in multi-racial Rochdale where I grew up…
“I regret that I too have let people down by the use of such language, albeit six years ago. I, like everyone else, have a responsibility about the language I have used on social media as well as in conversation.”
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What were the soap star’s offensive tweets about?
It is thought Iqbal penned the offensive messages when she was attending college in Rochdale.
A soap insider told the Mail Online: “Shila Iqbal was summarily fired yesterday by ITV bosses over a series of racist tweets posted a few years on her Twitter…
“She was making repeated use of the N-word. Straight out of the door. She was only 17/18 when the tweets were posted.”
A spokeswoman for the soap said: “As a consequence of historic social media posts, Shila Iqbal has left her role as Aiesha Richards on Emmerdale. The programme took the decision not to renew her contract as soon as these posts were brought to the company’s attention.”
