Take That member Howard Donald has said he is “deeply sorry” after making a “huge error” by “liking social media posts that are derogatory towards the LGBTQIA+ community”.
Donald, 55, who performs in the pop group alongside Gary Barlow and Mark Owen, has been dropped from playing at Groovebox’s Nottingham Pride Festival event in July following reports he was seen liking a number of transphobic and homophobic tweets.
In an Instagram story on Saturday, Donald wrote: “I have made a huge error in my judgement (by) liking social media posts that are derogatory towards the LGBTQIA+ community and for that, I am deeply sorry and I know I have let everyone down.
“I am really disappointed in myself and I am sorry for any hurt that I have caused by my uneducated actions. I clearly have a lot to learn and it’s a priority for me that I do this.”
Take That, now a trio following the departure of Robbie Williams and Jason Orange, have been working on an album in recent months.
They are set to headline the British Summer Time festival and have just released a cinematic adaptation of Greatest Days – the hit musical about Take That.
Donald, who was also a judge on German reality talent show Got To Dance, was going to perform separately from the group in Nottingham next month.
As well as tweets criticising the trans and gay communities, fans were shocked as he also appeared to favourite a tweet by controversial social media personality Andrew Tate, who has been charged with rape, people trafficking and organised crime.
Angry fans called on the Pride event organisers to remove Donald from the billing as they branded him a 'hateful hypocrite.' Donald responded to the backlash by deleting his Twitter page.
On Instagram Groovebox Festival wrote: “In light of recent events, Howard Donald will no longer be playing at our Nottingham Pride Festival on Saturday 29th July at Binks Yard.
“We would like to offer our thanks to the public for alerting us to the situation this morning and also appreciate your patience whilst we spoke to the relevant parties.
“We are working on confirming a replacement headliner alongside Horse Meat Disco, Tayce, Danny Beard & ESSEL for Nottingham Pride and will make an announcement in due course.”
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