Press Release: London Theatre Direct announces halt of tickets sales for Sergei Polunin's mixed programme at the London Palladium
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| By
Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels
(Updated on Jul 24, 2019)
London Theatre Direct formally announce today that they will be halting ticket sales for Sergei Polunin's upcoming mixed dance programme at the London Palladium. The decision comes after the Ukrainian ballerino's series of hateful comments made last year came to our attention. Polunin's homophobic and sexist remarks, as well as his violent fat shaming against the clinically overweight, go against LTD's core values of diversity, acceptance, and equality.
In December 2018, Ukrainian-born Russian dancer Sergei Polunin posted a series of hateful comments on Instagram in which he promoted anti-gay violence and violence against plus-size people. The ballerino was eventually dropped from appearing in Swan Lake last February for the Paris Opera Ballet and has also lost a series of modelling and acting jobs, a TED Talks gig, and various sponsorships. There are now calls from gay rights groups for the star to be dropped from appearing in Romeo and Juliet in Verona this summer.
After these recent calls to action, online ticket retailer London Theatre Direct have followed suit and made the conscious decision to refrain from selling tickets for Sergei Polunin at the West End's London Palladium. These sanctions will remain in effect until Polunin issues a formal apology for his unacceptable and erratic behaviour. We at London Theatre Direct support a zero tolerance policy on hate speech and it is our firm belief that this sort of behaviour belongs nowhere near the West End stage or in the entertainment business.
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Read our article here for more information on Sergei Polunin and his inappropriate remarks.