A British journalist who tweeted at a children’s charity, accusing them of “hir[ing] a porn model” for its ambassador, has reportedly led the organization to remove its work with trans model and activist Munroe Bergdorf.
“Hey @NSPCC can you please explain why a children’s safeguarding charity has hired a porn model as a Childline ambassador? It’s an astonishing decision. Is it worth the cancelled direct debits?” Janice Turner, the journalist in question, tweeted to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).
https://twitter.com/MunroeBergdorf/status/1137407385537064960
In a Twitter thread on Saturday, Bergdorf shared details of her work with Childline, a segment NSPCC in the U.K. Bergdorf wrote that she worked free of any charge for the campaign and that the charity removed her work from its website without notifying her.
“They decided to sever ties without speaking to me, delete all the content we made together and back-peddle without giving any reason why,” Bergdorf wrote in a tweet. “My role with Childline was not paid, I accepted their request to become their first LGBT+ campaigner because I care about the wellbeing of all LGBT+ kids, but especially trans kids who are consistently targeted by British media outlets.”
A spokesperson for Bergdorf told the Daily Dot that Bergdorf only found out about the removal of her work through her publicist. The spokesperson also confirmed that Bergdorf has been working 100% unpaid with NSPCC since June 4.
In an email statement to the Daily Dot, NSPCC acknowledged that Bergdorf has supported “the most recent phase of Childline’s campaign which aims to support children with LGBTQ+ concerns,” and she has only been “referred to” as a Childline ambassador.
“At no point has she been an ambassador for the charity. She will have no ongoing relationship with Childline or the NSPCC,” the statement read.
The charity is now facing backlash for seemingly bowing to transphobia. Turner, a columnist for British newspaper, the Sunday Times, understandably received backlash for her tweet.
https://twitter.com/tencents77/status/1137550490173038592
https://twitter.com/secwonk311/status/1137441321348546560
https://twitter.com/MavenOfMayhem/status/1137478365231878144
That’s what Janice Turner and friends are afraid of.
— Mallory Moore (@Chican3ry) June 8, 2019
This is not the first time Turner has drawn the public’s ire for being transphobic. Turner has a history of making transphobic comments. She is not backing down by continuing to defend herself on Twitter.
Sorry, can you not read? I wrote “porn model” as in modelling for porn title Playboy. Perhaps, since you made an error, you’d like to delete?
— Janice Turner (@VictoriaPeckham) June 7, 2019
Turner has, in the past, equated having mental disorders to being trans, and has claimed that a fight for gender-neutral changing room at Topshop would “sacrifice the wellbeing of children.”
On Saturday, Turner updated her pinned tweet with numerous links to her articles arguing against the porn industry–or institutions such as Playboy magazine.
As Bergdorf, and others, noted on Twitter, it’s not only Turner’s transphobia that’s unsettling but also the latent bashing of the porn industry in her tweet that’s problematic.
https://twitter.com/JakeHorsfield/status/1137673871354736641
The phrase “I read it for the articles” is cliche for a reason, and playboy have used that to their advantage. You could have learnt a lot from their profile on @MunroeBergdorf titled “what Munroe Bergdorf can teach us about womanhood” if you had acted as a journalist.
— mmyesno (@g43734171) June 9, 2019
This is not feminism, this is a female engaging in misogyny
— Han (@LilmissJones1) June 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/Ukulelee_/status/1137654227063463936
https://twitter.com/kaliandkalki/status/1137725268875812864
Janice Turner did not respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comments.
READ MORE:
- Editor’s history of calling trans people ‘frauds’ shines light on Economist’s transphobic tweet
- Alabama mayor says of the LGBTQ community: ‘Kill the problem out’
- Tomi Lahren is stoked about the ‘straight pride’ parade
- Trans Twitter users are roasting these bizarrely transphobic pizza bathroom signs
Got five minutes? We’d love to hear from you. Help shape our journalism and be entered to win an Amazon gift card by filling out our 2019 reader survey.
