Taskmaster's Rosie Jones calls out troll who criticised her casting
Taskmaster's Rosie Jones has called out an online troll who criticised her after it was announced that she would be on the show.
The latest line-up for Taskmaster was announced in May, revealing Jones, Emma Sidi, Jack Dee, Babatunde Aléshé and Andy Zaltzman would be starring in season 18. However, the exciting news was dampened for Jones, as she received nasty messages from trolls online.
Related: Rosie Jones' new gameshow with Judi Love and Katherine Ryan gets first look
The comedian, who has cerebral palsy, shared a message she received from an individual who accused her of "ruining" Taskmaster and said they wouldn't be watching, further claiming she was "guaranteed to win it".
Jones responded to the post on her Instagram story, writing: "Everyone feel sorry for Bradley, who is going to miss one of the best series. Cute that he thinks he knows who is going to win though."
This isn't the first time Jones has dealt with online trolls. After performing at The Royal Variety in December last year, the comedian and actress took to X (formerly Twitter) to address comments she received about her performance.
"Thank you for all of the lovely messages about The Royal Variety last night, what fun. Less of a thanks to the not so lovely ones," she wrote. "Comedy is subjective and it's ok if I'm not your cup of tea. But please remember the difference between personal preference and downright ableism."
Related: Rosie Jones calls out "downright ableism" following Royal Variety performance
Earlier in 2023, Jones also met with a troll in person for her documentary Rosie Jones: Am I A R****d?
On a recent episode of Under Your Skin, she recalled that although it was "scary" and she was initially "very angry", meeting the troll changed her perspective.
"Meeting them and realising that they did it because they were an alcoholic, they had undiagnosed autism, they were depressed, it made me go 'oh, it isn't so simple as – they're bad people'," she explained. "When it comes to abuse on social media, a happy person would never go to that extreme."
"I really wanted to leave it going, 'Oh, great. It's their fault, and they're not sorry. Let's blame them.' But really, I left thinking they need help."
Taskmaster season 18 airs later this year on Channel 4.
You Might Also Like