Rosie Jones announces new disability sitcom after documentary backlash tears
Comedian Rosie Jones has landed a new Channel 4 comedy series – weeks after sparking fury with an offensive title for her documentary which explored online hate against people with disabilities .
The 33-year-old stand up will be writing and starring in a new series called Disability Benefits – which is based on a comedy short of the same name that was already aired by Channel 4. The show, co-written by screenwriter Peter Fellows, will see a disabled woman use the way society shuns her as a way to start a drugs empire. Rosie, who has cerebral palsy, will play the main character as well as serving as a writer of the series.
The official synopsis for Disability Benefits show reads: "Having had her state benefits cut to shreds after being made redundant, a young woman with very little left to lose begins to build an illegal drugs empire. But Emily (Rosie Jones) isn’t your average street-dealing dope peddler – she’s sharp, funny, biting, highly educated – and on top of all that, she has cerebral palsy.
Rosie Jones is writing and starring in a new Channel 4 comedy called Disability Benefits (Channel 4)"People have underestimated Emily her entire life. If they’re not patronising her for completing the most menial of tasks, they’re pretending she’s not there. What better disguise could there be for criminal activity than to be entirely written off by the same broken system which exists to protect the law?"
Rosie Jones said in a statement: "I am incredibly excited to be making Disability Benefits for Channel 4. It has always been my dream to have my own sitcom and now it is coming true! Bring it on!!"
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Charlie Perkins, Head of Comedy for Channel 4 added: "Rosie is a National Treasure at Channel 4, with her distinctively funny and powerful work felt across all genres. So making her first sitcom alongside the huge talents of Peter, Merman and 2LE is the perfect next step for this special force of nature. Disability Benefits adds to an increasingly exciting slate of Channel 4 Comedy shows for next year and beyond."
Rosie endured a backlash earlier this summer after revealing the name of a documentary (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)The announcement comes after Rosie sparked furore earlier this summer when she announced she was making a documentary titled I Am A R*tard. The name ignited fury from the disabled community who took offence to the course term. And Rosie herself was reduced to tears as she was confronted by the backlash. She tearfully told the BBC: "It's not been my easiest few weeks because having criticism that comes from within your own community hits harder."
Rosie later defended the name of her show when she appeared on ITV's This Morning in July at the height of the backlash. She explained: "I really felt passionate about the title because sometimes you need to tackle a subject head on to really talk about it....and [hopefully] stop that kind of language.
"I wont lie to you at the beginning that was difficult for me fortunately my director of the doc is one of my best friends and he directed all my comedy shows, all my travel shows. With all the abuse online I kept cracking jokes and my director to took me to one side and said, 'You don't need to do that, you don't need to break the tension,' and I said; "I don't know how not to do that."
The comedian added: "For years I have had to use comedy to make people feel more comfortable around me."
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