comedian fronting a Covid health campaign has been axed over unacceptable tweets.
The Glasgow performer, 60, admitted that the tweets, from several years ago, contained horrific undertones and apologised for her “offensive, hurtful language.”
In them, she made remarks about black American celebrities including Destiny’s Child star Kelly Rowland, and rappers 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg, according to The Scottish Sun and US news website the Daily Beast.
Ms Godley said in a statement on Twitter: “I thought being an outspoken comedian meant I could get away with saying anything I wanted and people would accept that and not take it out of context, but that’s completely wrong.
“I have to stand up and own my offensive, hurtful language and apologise. They have horrific undertones and I deserve all the criticism that comes my way.”
Last October, Ms Sturgeon referred to Ms Godley as her “alter ego” and praised her for “giving us reasons to laugh in an otherwise dark time”.
The Scottish government was not immediately available for a request for comment, but a spokesperson told the BBC that adverts featuring the comedian would be withdrawn.
They added: “A series of unacceptable tweets by Janey Godley have been brought to our attention and while she has rightly apologised, trust in our public health messages at this time is paramount.
“We have therefore taken the decision to withdraw any further campaign material in which Ms Godley features.
“The material will be discontinued immediately on our own channels and withdrawn as soon as possible from external media.”
The TV adverts were running online under the hashtag #Stopthespike amid rising coronavirus rates.
