SCOTTISH comedian Janey Godley has said that trolls from a "certain section of Scotland" have accused her of faking cancer on social media.
The outspoken pro-independence comic, who last year won the inaugural Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow award, was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021.
Later this year, a film of Godley performing her tour while living with cancer – titled Janey – will have its premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival.
The comedian is known for her popular voiceovers, particularly those in which she mimicked Nicola Sturgeon (below) during the Covid pandemic.
However, Godley was also dropped as the face of a Scottish Government health campaign after a series of old tweets were unearthed.
Speaking about the abuse she has faced since, Godley told the BBC: “It was definitely political. There were people ready to get me. They tried. So did cancer, and guess what? I’m still here.”
Although she continued to tour, she added that all the noise on social media did start to have an impact on her mental health.
READ MORE: Watch Janey Godley's 'priceless' Michelle Mone interview voiceover
“It made me suicidal. I was ready to end it all because I felt I had let down so many people,” she said.
“But every night I stepped on stage the whole theatre was on their feet cheering me on and I thought these people want me to keep doing this.
“Even to this day, I still get a lot of hassle from a certain section of Scotland on social media. They tell me I’m faking cancer, they mock up my gravestone or send me horrible tweets.”
However, the comedian also insisted she was not "cancelled" after being dropped from the campaign and said the only business she lost was a pantomime in Aberdeen, which she would have been unable to do following her cancer diagnosis.
Reflecting on her old tweets, Godley (below) said: “I made some horrible mistakes. And I learned that wee white, middle-aged women like me think they can say things and people won’t take it badly, they can’t.
“Just because everyone knows you’re not racist, just because everyone knows you marched against fascism, doesn’t mean you can open your mouth and say things and hope it’ll be accepted.
“What I said was offensive and I apologised. The problem is that people don’t want an apology, they want you to die.”
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