Former Neighbours star Coco-Jacinta Cherian has made shocking claims about her time on the show, claiming that she quit acting due to racism.
The 26-year-old ex-Australian actor, who now works for a refugee support organisation, shared evidence in court in support of Green’s senator Mehreen Faruqi.
Senator Faruqi is suing Senator Pauline Hanson for $150,000 in damages over online comments the One Nation leader made in September 2022, telling Sen. Faruqi to ‘p*** off back to Pakistan’.
Cherian, who appeared on the Channel Ten soap from 2012 to 2013 when she was 14 years old, claims she now has anxiety and depression due to racism she experienced during her time on the show.
‘Once episodes I had acted in went to air, I recall seeing tweets which used words to the effect of “I should go back to where I came from”, that I “didn’t belong [on Neighbours]” and that Neighbours should only be using actors who were “real Australians”,’ she said in an affidavit filed with the court.
Former Neighbours star Coco-Jacinta Cherian (pictured) has made shocking claims about her time on the show, claiming that she quit acting due to racism
‘I also started to hate my race and hate the part of me that is Indian.’
‘I recall not liking my skin and not feeling comfortable in it. I also recall comparing myself to my peers on Neighbours and recall feeling very different from my co-stars who were white.
‘I felt as though I was not as important or deserving of time on screen when compared to my co-stars, who were the typical, backyard cricket playing white Australians.’
Cherian played the role of Rani, the youngest member of the Kapoor family – who were the first-ever non-white family to move onto Ramsay Street as full-time cast members.
The 26-year-old ex-Australian actor, who now works for a refugee support organisation, shared evidence in court in support of Green’s senator Mehreen Faruqi
Cherian (right) played the role of Rani, the youngest member of the Kapoor family – who were the first-ever non-white family to move onto Ramsay Street as full-time cast members
She also claims writers and producers on the show used ‘Indian stereotypes in their portrayal of the Kapoor family’.
‘As an Australian, I did not relate to the character and because of the hate I was seeing online, I wanted to move away from the character that I was playing (for example, celebrating Hindu traditions or wearing Saris),’ the former actress said.
Cherian said she ‘made the decision to quit acting in 2013’ because of the racial stereotypes and the online bullying she saw while starring on Neighbours.
She also says she experienced racist remarks outside of acting and while working as a waitress in her late teens.
‘I now suffer from anxiety and depression, which I believe is linked to these experiences,’ she said.
Cherian said she ‘made the decision to quit acting in 2013’ because of the racial stereotypes and the online bullying she saw while starring on Neighbours. She also claims the writers and producers used ‘Indian stereotypes in their portrayal of the Kapoor family’
Cherian came forward to give evidence after filling out an online survey set up last year to support Senator Faruqi’s case against Senator Hanson.
Senator Faruqi is suing Senator Hanson over a comment she made on X (then Twitter) in September 2022, telling her to ‘p*** off back to Pakistan’ following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Greens deputy leader took to X to say she ‘cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples’.
A five-day trial in the Federal Court began on Monday, April 29, in which Sen. Faruqi alleged Sen. Hanson had engaged in racial discrimination via her tweet.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi outside Federal Court this week replied ‘no comment’ when asked ‘are all white people racist?’
She is suing Pauline Hanson (pictured with her lawyer Sue Chrysanthou) for $150,000 in damages over what she claims was a racist tweet aimed at her
Sen. Faruqi has accused Sen. Hanson of beaching section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act which prohibits acts that offend, insult or humiliate a person based on their race, ethnicity or nationality.
She told the Federal Court this week that verbal attacks on white people cannot be considered racist because the concept is ‘tied to power’ and that ‘power … is held by white people’ in Australia.
‘It is tied to who holds the power and who has the authority to perpetrate racism and oppress people,’ Ms Faruqi said when asked about comments her son, journalist Osman Faruqi, had made criticising white people.
‘And in this country, the power of that is held by white people.
In his closing submissions in the Federal Court on Wednesday, Ms Faruqi’s barrister Saul Holt KC labelled Senator Hanson a ‘a high-profile purveyor of hateful speech’ against people of migrant heritage.
‘The words published (in her tweet) were a version of a well known, anti-migrant, racist phrase ‘go back to where you came from’,’ he said.
‘And they were plainly targeted (at) a brown, Muslim, migrant senator.’
Senator Faruqi was born in Pakistan before migrating to Australia, where she became Australia’s first Muslim senator in 2018.
Mr Holt argued the words sent ‘a clear message’ of ‘the idea of banishment’ and that Senator Faruqi was ‘of a lesser status’ because of her ethnic origin.
‘Being told … not to bite the hand that feeds you, is really to be told to shut up and stop engaging in controversial speech because you’re a migrant,’ he said.
The court was told Senator Faruqi had experienced psychological trauma and ‘extreme distress’ after receiving her Senate colleague’s tweet and the ‘bluntly sickening’ flood of tweets that followed.
Sen. Hanson’s assertion thjt she should have ‘taken it on the chin’ revealed the ‘myth’ that public figures are ‘inoculated’ from the effects of public criticism, Mr Holt said.
He argued the impact of the tweet was ‘much more substantial’ on Senator Faruqi because she already feels ‘excluded’ and ‘othered’ as a result of being the first Muslim woman in parliament.
Senator Hanson played ‘the person and not the ball’ by ‘abusing a person versus an idea’ in her tweet, Mr Holt said.
Hanson wrote, ‘You took citizenship, bought multiple homes, and a job in a parliament. It’s clear you’re not happy, so pack your bags and p*** off back to Pakistan’
He noted the senator had not targeted the controversial message or words of Senator Faruqi’s initial tweet, but rather attacked her as a person.
‘This was a personal racist attack based on a response to a political tweet,’ Mr Holt asserted.
‘This tweet was (posted) because of the fact that Senator Faruqi is a Muslim woman of colour as well as the fact that she happened to be from Pakistan,’ Mr Holt said.
‘It’s bluntly just classical racial hatred.
‘(Senator Hanson) has never given any thought to the hurt she might cause.’
However, Senator Hanson’s lawyer Kieran Smark SC rebutted the allegations by arguing his client had been engaging in political speech.
‘You’ve got two members of the Australian senate, both making public communications … and the subject matter is the death of the head of state,’ he said.
‘It’s hard to think of a plainer example of matters connected with government and political matters.’
Senator Faruqi claimed Hanson’s tweet provoked a ‘torrent’ of nasty online comments
Ms Chrysanthou honed in on social media posts made by Ms Faruqi’s son, journalist Osman Faruqi (pictured), which she told the court were offensive to white people – but Senator Faruqi argued criticising ‘white people’ was not racist
Mr Smark stated Senator Faruqi had ‘used the occasion of the death of the Queen to advance the nominated political causes’ by pushing for Australia to become a republic just hours after the monarch died.
He argued Senator Hanson had responded with a fair expression of her own opinion on the matter of public interest.
When he was queried about the personal nature of the tweet, Mr Smark responded that politicians often use ‘powerful language’ to convince audiences of a view.
‘When you’re replying to an attack, you may choose to respond to the attack or respond to the character of the accuser,’ he said.
The court heard Senator Hanson had previously told another white senator to go back to where he came from, indicating such sentiment was not based on race.
The court was shown a clip of Senator Hanson on a morning TV show in 2018 telling then-Senator Derryn Hinch to ‘pack (his) bags and get on the next plane out of the country’ back to New Zealand.
‘Come back when you’ve got your manners,’ she berated her colleague on air.
The video was tendered to the court after Senator Hanson was challenged on Tuesday about whether she had ever told a white person to go back to their birth country.
Mr Smark will continue his closing statements on Thursday after declaring Senator Hanson has ‘no liability’ towards the Greens deputy leader.
The court heard Senator Faruqi was not seeking monetary penalties, but rather an order for Senator Hanson to donate $150,000 to Sweatshop Literacy Movement charity, attend anti-racism training and publish an apology tweet.
Both senators have partially funded their legal fees through crowd-funding platforms.
