The familiar sound of the Neighbours theme rang out on the ABC last night. It was used at the start of a report on 7.30 that detailed continued allegations of racism on the set of the long-running TV drama.
7.30 reporter Jason Om spoke to a number of cast members both in Australia and now Los Angeles about their experiences working on the program.
Om also had a response from production company Fremantle and what they are doing in response to the criticism.
The program featured interviews with four former cast members from culturally diverse backgrounds – Shareena Clanton, Remy Hii, Menik Gooneratne and Sachin Joab. Here is some of what they had to say:
Remy Hii: “Something isn’t working behind the scenes. It’s not an isolated incident.”
Sachin Joab: “They have got us by the balls. If you speak up, how do we know that we’re ever going to be employed again?”
Shareena Clanton: “There is something systemic here. There is something fundamentally dangerous.”
ABC reporter Om explained Clanton was hired between October 2020 and March this year to play a guest character. Over the six months she claims she saw various forms of racism on the Neighbours set including the use of the N word behind the scenes.
Om also reported another Aboriginal performer, Meyne Wyatt, spoke out. On Twitter he said he heard the C word slur and regular cast member Sharon Johal said a cast member called her the “the black one” and blacky” behind her back and that a now former cast member put on an Indian accent in her presence.
ABC reporter Jason Om (left) with former Neighbours cast members Shareena Clanton, Remy Hii and Sachin Joab
The program managed to track down Menik Gooneratne who played Priya Kapoor in the first south Asian family to move into Ramsay Street in 2011. Now living and working in Los Angeles, Menik says that at the time she received little support from Neighbours‘ management.
Menik Gooneratne: “What happened when they announced our casting as main cast, we received a lot of public backlash and racist vitriol from people saying that we were moving on to the street and taking other people’s jobs.”
Sachin Joab played the Kapoor family father, Ajay.
Sachin Joab: “At the end of our one-year contracts, we were terminated. This is after putting in approximately eight to 10 months being presented to the public as main casts or regulars, you know, regular reoccurring faces on the show. But we were actually guesties, we were all guest actors.
“If we had the Caucasian blonde hair and blue eyes, I don’t think they would have written us out.”
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Om reported that for Crazy Rich Asians star, Remy Hii, Neighbours helped boost his early career and while he said he faced no racism on the set, some viewers opposed his brief stint on the show in 2013.
Remy Hii: “Look, there were definitely [comments] racial in tone. People just objecting to seeing an Asian face on their screen. Of course, it like weighed on me at the time and it felt pretty bad.”
Production company for Neighbours, Fremantle, declined 7.30‘s interview requests.
But the production company provided this statement to 7.30:
We remain committed to ensuring a respectful and inclusive workplace for all employees on the set of Neighbours and take very seriously any questions about racism or any other form of discrimination.
We are engaging an independent legal investigation to work concurrently with Campfire X’s cultural review and hope to work directly with the individuals that have raised concerns following which we will take whatever next steps are appropriate.
Main image: Former Neighbours actors Sachin Joab, Shareena Clanton and Remy Hii on ABC’s 7.30 (Photo: ABC News/Jason Om)