
Multiple actors have come forward with allegations of racism on the set of long-running soap opera Neighbours .
Actor Shareena Clanton, a Wongatha, Yamatji, Noongar and Gitja woman, claimed her six-week stint on Ramsay Street as a guest star was marred by "multiple racist traumas".
"It's been lonely, triggering and traumatising to work in such a culturally unsafe space," she wrote on Instagram.
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A day later, Meyne Wyatt, who appeared onNeighboursas Nate Kinski from 2014 to 2016, alleged that he too had experienced racism on the set of the Australian drama.
"It involved the C word, and I called it out and it didn’t happen around me again," the actor shared on Twitter.
"It is disappointing but not at all surprising to hear that five years later racism continues to be present in that workplace. But what can you say, we are in Australia."
Since then, several actors have come forward with their own harrowing experiences.
As the situation unfolds, here's everything we know about the allegations.
What did the actors allege?
Shareena Clanton, who is best known for her role as Doreen Anderson inWentworth,was hired to play a character named Sheila in yet-to-be-aired episodes ofNeighbours.
In an Instagram post shared on April 6, Clanton shared she was "navigating ongoing counselling" following her experience on the "highly problematic show".
In a list of seven bullet points, the actor detailed allegations against the show, including several examples of unnamed white actors using racist slurs, including the "n-word".
When Clanton confronted an actor who had used the slur, she alleged she was told to "go somewhere else" by staff "because I was making others 'uncomfortable'".
"The retaliation for calling out this misconduct and racism often left me ostracised and further marginalised," she said.
The 30-year-old also alleged that "overt and covert levels of racism were rife" on set.
"A senior staff member openly laughed whilst using the term 'slave driver' in reference to him 'working hard'. My management at the time didn’t help as they endorsed/encouraged this 'office banter'. I fired the agent," she wrote.
In an additional post shared on Instagram, Clanton made further claims about her time onNeighbours.
"Believe the horror stories. I’ve only encapsulated some of the key things I was subjected to," she wrote.
"I didn’t have enough space to talk about the microaggressions of toxicity prevalent, the sexist and misogynistic commentary, the disrespectful and crude statements made every day, the deliberate ostracisation of those who called it out and abhorrent levels of bullying."
A day later, actor Meyne Wyatt shared his experience with racism on the set ofNeighbours.
Wyatt made history on the show as the first Indigenous actor to be cast as a regular character on the Australian drama.
I was a series regular on Neighbours between 2014 to 2016 and I experienced Racism on set. It involved the C word and I called it out and it didn’t happen around me again. Though I did walk in on this incident? so I have no doubt things were being said behind my back.
— Meyne Wyatt (@meynewyatt)
I have too much experience to believe otherwise. And it is disappointing but not at all surprising to hear that five years later racism continues to be present in that workplace. But what can you say, we are in Australia.
— Meyne Wyatt (@meynewyatt)
On posts shared on Twitter, Wyatt alleged he walked in on someone using a racist slur on set.
"I called it out, and it didn't happen around me again. Though I did walk in on this incident so I have no doubt things were being said behind my back," he said.
He added it was "disappointing but not at all surprising" to read Clanton's allegations about her time on the show.
Wyatt, who played Nate Kinski on the show, claimed there was also "rampant" homophobia on the set.
"The comments and jokes and innuendos were ridiculous!" he said.
"It made for a very unsafe environment for anyone in the LGBTQIA+ community and the sh*t needs to be stamped out," he added.
"These attitudes are prevalent throughout the industry. And we are f**king tired of calling this sh*t out."
In February, Sharon Johal, who played Dipi Rebecchi onNeighboursfor four years, told Stellar that she was "incessantly trolled" during her time on the show.
"I came to understand that I couldn’t escape racism, not even on Australia’s most famous street," Johal shared.
"I’m incessantly trolled on social media and sometimes even in public, with people saying things like 'go back to your country' and 'you and your filthy children need to leave Ramsay Street,'" she added.
"They also harass my family, including my non-actor husband after he did me a favour and stood in for a cast member for intimate scenes during the pandemic."
Jessica Kingston
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