Rosie Jones has claimed that the level of abuse she experienced after appearing on Question Time was “too much for even the toughest person to handle.”
In October 2021, the comedian went on the topical discussion show to examine the week’s news.
Rosie, who appeared on the panel alongside education minister Nadhim Zahawi, shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy, LBC’s Nick Ferrari, and NFU president Minette Batters, slammed Boris Johnson’s Party Conference speech, stating that while he said a lot, she ‘didn’t hear anything’.
Rosie, who has cerebral palsy, was inundated with ableist abuse on social media shortly after.
Reflecting on what unfolded, Rosie has now said that speaking her mind ‘attracted a new audience: people who didn’t agree with my political beliefs’.
‘They couldn’t find the words to express it so they just attacked my disability or appearance, she continued.
‘They’re the low hanging fruits. The amount of abuse I got was overwhelming.’
She added when speaking to the Guardian that ‘even the strongest person couldn’t deal with that’.
On the night the programme aired, Rosie tweeted that she was’sadly not shocked’ by the hate she had received.
‘The sad thing is that I’m not surprised at the ableist abuse I’ve received tonight regarding my appearance on Question Time,’ she shared after the episode aired.
‘It’s indicative of the country we live in right now. I will keep on speaking up, in my wonderful voice, for what I believe in.’
Rosie has come under criticism this week after the title of a documentary she is working on was revealed.
The usage of the ableist insult, Am I A R****d?, infuriated others, who called it’damaging.
The Channel 4 documentary will look at society’s views towards handicapped individuals.
In response to the outcry, Rosie stated that the title was not intended to startle.
‘It’s about education and starting the conversation about how damaging the casual use of ableist language is…I’m taking back control of a word that’s been thrown at me as a weapon all of my life.
In a statement the broadcaster stressed that the use of the word was ‘within context of the subject matter being explored and specific to the abuse Rosie receives on social media’.
Question Time airs Thursdays at 8pm on BBC iPlayer and 10.35pm on BBC One.
