Howard Donald: Twitter posts explained, why he was dropped from Nottingham Pride, what did Take That star say?

Howard Donald of pop group Take That has said he is “deeply sorry” and acknowledged that he had made a “huge error” in “liking social media posts that are derogatory towards the LGBTQIA+ community”.

Donald - who performs alongside Gary Barlow and Mark Owen - has been removed from the lineup of performers at Groovebox's Nottingham Pride Festival scheduled for July.

In an Instagram story on Saturday (17 June), Donald wrote: “I have made a huge error in my judgement (by) liking social media posts that are derogatory towards the LGBTQIA+ community and for that, I am deeply sorry and I know I have let everyone down.

"I am really disappointed in myself and I am sorry for any hurt that I have caused by my uneducated actions. I clearly have a lot to learn and it’s a priority for me that I do this.”

What happened?

Following the departure of Robbie Williams and Jason Orange, Take That, now operating as a trio, have been actively engaged in the production of a new album over the past few months.

They are scheduled to be the headlining act at the upcoming British Summer Time festival, and recently unveiled a cinematic adaptation of their beloved hit musical, Greatest Days, which pays homage to the group's musical journey.

In addition to his involvement with Take That, Donald, who previously also served as a judge on the German reality talent show Got To Dance, had plans for a separate performance in Nottingham next month.

On Instagram Groovebox Festival wrote: “In light of recent events, Howard Donald will no longer be playing at our Nottingham Pride Festival on Saturday 29th July at Binks Yard. We would like to offer our thanks to the public for alerting us to the situation this morning and also appreciate your patience whilst we spoke to the relevant parties.

“We are working on confirming a replacement headliner alongside Horse Meat Disco, Tayce, Danny Beard & ESSEL for Nottingham Pride and will make an announcement in due course.”

What posts did Donald 'like'?

Pink News has reported that Donald "liked" tweets that contained derogatory remarks towards an inclusive period campaign featuring trans men. In addition, he had also supported a tweet calling for the "defunding" of Disney for hosting a Pride in Concert event in June.

Donald had also liked videos of anti-trans pundit Kellie-Jay Keen - also known as Posie Parker - and had reportedly liked a tweet from Charlie Kirk, the founder of right-wing organisation Turning Point USA, which called for Disney to be "defunded" due to its hosting of a Pride in Concert event scheduled for 24 and 25 June.

Furthermore, it was reported that Donald had liked posts from Andrew Tate, the controversial influencer known for promoting misogynistic views and his generally divisive content. Donald's Twitter account has since been deleted, and so the reported activities related to it are unable to be independently verified.