Celebrated comedian Rosie Jones spends her days bringing smiles and laughter to her audiences on screen and on tour. But ever since her first appearance on television, she's kept a dark and upsetting side of her life in the spotlight private – she is trolled online, daily, and with horrific ferocity, often called the ‘R’-word and even receiving rape and death threats because of her disability.

In this unflinchingly personal film, Rosie, who has cerebral palsy, sets out to try to understand how prevalent disability trolling is in the UK, and why it's often left completely unchecked. She sets herself the challenge of confronting a troll directly, as well as exploring the role social media has to play in the rise of this abuse. Rosie wants everyone in the UK to be made aware of ableism and to stand up to it when they see it. The film is a call to arms for all of us to play our part in ending the suffering of those who are abused simply because of their disability.   

The title of the film has already caused controversy due to the use of the word R*tard.

Jones posted a video on Twitter explaining why she used the term.

She said, “The title of the film has a very shocking word in it, the R word. And I get it, a lot of people will find this word very shocking and upsetting. But, in my opinion, society doesn’t take this word and other ableist forms of language as seriously as any other form of abuse from any other minorities...I said to Channel 4: ‘Let's do it, let's tackle the problem head on and use that word in the title and then, hopefully, people will think twice about using the word and other ableist slurs ever again’.”

A spokesperson for Channel 4 added: “This film is an authored documentary by Rosie Jones to raise awareness and educate viewers about the issue of ableism and the scale of abuse she and other disabled people face daily. The use of the R-word in the documentary is within context of the subject matter being explored and specific to the abuse Rosie receives on social media. The film makes very clear it is an unacceptable and offensive ableist term and its inclusion was carefully considered in conversations with the editorial team, Rosie and a disability consultant.”

Director: Tom Levinge
Executive Producers: Grace Reynolds, David Brindley, Rosie Jones
Production Company: Twofour

Rosie Jones: Am I a R*tard? airs on Channel 4 on Thursday, July 20, 10pm, C4.