Dame Maureen Lipman has branded actor Gerard McCarthy “cowardly” for walking away from their shared Soho Theatre production without confronting her in person.
The 80-year-old Bafta-nominated actress dismissed Mr McCarthy’s Instagram announcement as “virtue-signalling” and urged him to “grow up.”
“I am asking for him to have the courage to face me and tell me what he thinks it is I should do, or think, or say,” she said.
Ms Lipman insisted she had no intention of imposing her beliefs on anyone. “He has to wake up and smell the grass. I have worked with actors for 60 years who often don’t share my politics. I don’t ask them, and they don’t ask me,” she added.
Mr McCarthy, best recognised for appearances in the BBC’s The Fall and Call the Midwife, had been due to perform alongside Ms Lipman in Stan Zimmerman’s Right Before I Go, which opens at the Soho Theatre on September 5.
The Northern Irish actor revealed his withdrawal in a social media post last week. “Because of views she has publicly and repeatedly expressed regarding Israel and Palestine, I did not feel comfortable personally promoting her involvement,” he wrote on Instagram.
He stressed that he neither sought to have Ms Lipman removed from the cast nor expected fellow performers to follow his lead. A subsequent exchange with the play’s creator, Zimmerman, apparently cemented his resolve to depart.
Mr McCarthy has not been publicly outspoken on Middle Eastern affairs.
Mr McCarthy has not been publicly outspoken on Middle Eastern affairs.
She characterised herself as “simply a working woman of a certain age who believes that the state of Israel should be allowed to exist,” adding: “I am an actor, not a politician.
“There is very little I can do to influence Bibi Netanyahu, nor would I want to.”
Ms Lipman has faced sustained hostility from pro-Palestine campaigners during her recent theatre work.
Performances of Allegra in Aberdeen and Glasgow drew pickets, while the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign published an image depicting the Jewish actress with devil horns and a pitchfork, prompting a Police Scotland investigation into a potentially antisemitic social media post.
She has also needed to hire private security for touring dates owing to threats and abuse.
Several public figures rallied behind Mr McCarthy’s decision. Actors Dan Buckley, River Medway, and Star Wars: Andor’s Denise Gough voiced support on Instagram, as did comedian Luisa Omielan.
Writer and performer Robin Ince praised McCarthy’s stance, saying: “You will embolden others.” RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Divina DeCampo called Mr Lipman’s positions “abhorrent.”
GB News has contacted Mr McCarthy’s representatives for a comment.
Trans actress Iz Hesketh has become the second performer to pull out of the Soho Theatre production of Right Before I Go, citing Dame Maureen Lipman’s casting as the reason.
The Hollyoaks star, who won Best Newcomer at the 2024 Radio Times Awards, made the announcement on Instagram on Tuesday evening.
“I was really looking forward to returning to the project, so this is not a decision I have made lightly,” the soap star wrote.
“However, following the casting of Maureen Lipman and having recently become aware of public comments made by her, I no longer feel the next stage of production aligns with my own personal values and beliefs.”