Sharon Johal has admitted that some of her writing on the long-running soap opera Neighbours seemed ‘tokenistic.’
‘Little things would happen, there would be tokenism within the scripts, and I’m not a confrontational person, but I’ll do it if I need to,’ the 33-year-old said on the Tia Maria One of a Kind podcast.
‘I tried to straighten things out in the greatest manner possible as they happened,’ she continued.
Sharon went on to say that she felt pressured to be a good ambassador for the Indian Punjabi culture.
‘It was all this weight on my shoulders to appropriately and properly represent the community since I was the first and they had me be the flag-bearer, even though I didn’t want that position,’ she explained.
It follows the actress’s April statement about her ‘difficult’ four years on Neighbours, which included racist insults, ridiculing comments, and a colleague calling her a ‘c**t’ when she challenged them about an inappropriate remark.
‘The last week for me has been a traumatising, triggering, and traumatic experience, with the reappearance of compounded trauma I have attempted to ignore, bury, and eventually endure,’ Sharon, who portrayed Dipi Rebecchi from 2017 to March, added.
She went on to claim that a current cast member (who was not a person of colour) referred to her as ‘you people’ on many occasions while discussing in disparaging terms an argument they had with an Indian person.
She claims the same cast member referred to her behind her back as “the black one” and/or “blackie” in the presence of crew personnel, and that the individual stated the programme exclusively hires Indian actresses “to meet their diversity quota.”
Sharon claims she informed management of the remarks, who were sympathetic and addressed the actor on one occasion with her knowledge – but the tactic just served to make her a target once again.
‘For example, after I challenged them about disrespectful statements, it was reported to me that each cast and crew member called me a ‘c**t’ to another cast member,’ she said.
The actress also says that a former cast member (who was not of colour) compared her to a ‘bobble-head doll,’ with the remark, ‘Oh, it’s like you people,’ alluding to Indians.
‘Despite my requests, the same cast member frequently imitated the Indian character Apu from the Simpsons with an associated Indian accent and head movement in my presence,’ she continued.
Fremantle’s Asia Pacific CEO Chris Oliver-Taylor said in an April statement that “all complaints are taken seriously and we are examining all claims fairly.”
Mr Oliver-Taylor stated, “Fremantle is dedicated to fostering an environment in which workers and others in the workplace are treated fairly and with respect, and are free from illegal discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and bullying.”
‘We do not allow conduct that is inconsistent with our Anti-Discrimination, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Harassment, and Bullying Policy, and we take all complaints seriously, completely reviewing all accusations.’
