Eastenders star shares vile homophobic abuse: ‘You should have died in Orlando’
Eastenders star Jonny Labey, the face of Paul Coker in the hit BBC soap has shared some of the most horrific homophobic abuse he has received.
Spoilers below: If you are not caught up with Eastenders – don’t scroll down!
A day after Coker, a gay character, was killed off following a brutal homophobic attack in the square, Labey has shared the abuse he received on Twitter since his character died.
A tweet referred to the Pulse massacre in Orlando which left 49 dead after a gunman opened fire with an assault rifle in the LGBT club.
It reads: “@jonnylabey You should’ve died in Orlando instead pal”.
Labey, who is straight, retweeted the message, saying: “Twitter, please feel free to comment and remind this brave individual that it’s 2016 #nowords #ignoranceisignorance”.
He found support from his followers, however, who quickly reported the account behind the original tweet.
Although it remains, the account tweeted Labey to say: “Sorry for my disgusting comments pal, unblock me.”
Adding: “I was wrong. I’m a bad person.”
This is not the first time Labey has been on the receiving end of homophobic abuse – a year ago, after joining the soap, he said he had already received abuse.
His exit comes just months after Mitchell and Coker went public with their relationship, after viewers complained about a sex scene between the pair that took place in a funeral parlour.
