Disgraced Emmerdale star Shila Iqbal’s last scenes will air in two weeks after she was fired for using N-word in racist tweets
DISGRACED Emmerdale star Shila Iqbal’s last scenes will air in just two weeks after she was fired from the ITV soap for using the N-word in racist tweets.
The 24-year-old actress issued a public apology after the tweets, which were sent in 2013, recently resurfaced online.
Scenes for the show are filmed eight weeks in advance, but The Mirror report that Shila’s onscreen character, Aiesha Richards, is only part of the soap’s ongoing storylines for the next 14 days.
It is not yet known how Aiesha’s exit will be explained.
Earlier today, the Mail Online reported that Shila sent “racist tweets” when she was a 19-year-old college student in Rochdale.
The actress joined the soap five years later, becoming a permanent member of the cast in 2018 after briefly appearing as Aiesha, the daughter of Manpreet Jutla, just weeks earlier.
Confirming that Shila had been booted from the show, an Emmerdale spokesperson previously 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.”
Publicly apologising for the tweets, Shila said in a statement: “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.
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“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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