Jamie Lee McDonnell (centre) who plays Michelle in Derry Girls denies getting paid to promote pro choice charities
The actor, who plays Michelle on the hit Channel 4 comedy, was responding to a claim by a pro-life group based in Belfast.
In an article posted to their own website, Precious Life claimed “O’Donnell is being paid to advocate for the killing of millions of Irish babies”.
Responding to the claim on Twitter, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell wrote: “Just to be clear, I am not, nor have I ever been paid by any charities to promote the pro choice movement.. I do it because its right! #TheNorthIsNext”.
Since the referendum in May in the Republic on legalising abortion, the #TheNorthIsNext has been used by pro-choice advocates to call for abortion to be legalised in Northern Ireland.
Describing Ms O’Donnell as “an incredibly vocal abortion advocate”, the Precious Life article makes reference to a production entitled ‘I Told My Mum I Was Going On An RE Trip’ which she featured in during 2017 with Liverpool-based theatre company 20 Stories High.
The play dealt with the theme of teenage abortion, and was later adapted for television by the BBC.
“She is yet another so-called ‘celebrity’ to buy into the pro-abortion propaganda,” the article says.
“Real feminists honour the bodies of women and the bodies of the female babies in the womb. Real celebrities use their fame for the good of everyone rather than promoting the mass killing of the most innocent and defenceless in our society.”
Fellow Derry Girls actress Nicola Coughlan, who plays Clare on the show, has also hit out at the accusation in the article, retweeting a link to it and writing: “Claiming @JamieLeeOD is being paid by Pro Choice charities is an outright lie, as you well know.”
Adding an excerpt of the text in a follow-up tweet, she writes: “This article is such a nasty attempt to bully a for a woman expressing her views, but even without that, the statement is a complete lie.”
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