Yahoo Lifestyle ITV Drops ‘Emmerdale’ Writer After He Attacked Girlfriend; Soap Withdrawn From BAFTA Voting
ITV has severed ties with Martin Fustes, a writer on long-running soap opera Emmerdale, after he admitted to charges of attacking his girlfriend.
The UK commercial broadcaster said it was “shocked and appalled” at the details of the court proceedings against Fustes, who has writing credits on nearly 760 episodes of the early evening drama.
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As well as dropping Fustes, ITV has withdrawn Emmerdale from the BAFTA TV Awards, where it would have competed for the Soap prize. The show has dealt with domestic abuse in a recent storyline.
“We were shocked and appalled to learn about the recent court case involving Emmerdale writer, Martin Fustes. Mr Fustes is a freelance writer and he has been informed that he will no longer be writing for Emmerdale,” said an ITV spokesperson.
“Everyone at ITV and Emmerdale abhors domestic abuse, which is why we have been highlighting the issue in a major storyline over the last 12 months. The Emmerdale production team were not aware of these charges against Mr Fustes until we were alerted over the weekend.”
On BAFTA, ITV added: “ITV and Emmerdale have taken the decision to withdraw from the Soap category from this year’s BAFTA TV awards. This is in consideration of recent news involving a member of the scriptwriting team.”
Fustes appeared at Hull Crown Court, where he admitted assaulting his partner, causing actual bodily harm, and an offense of intentional suffocation. He was given a two-year suspended prison sentence, according to Hull Live.
The second round of voting for the BAFTA TV Awards was due to close on March 13, but this deadline has now been extended to March 17. Nominations will be announced on March 27, with the ceremony taking place on May 11.
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