Coronation Street bad-boy Chris Fountain has been axed by the show after he was exposed as a grossly offensive masked rapper last week.
The actor rapped about rape and violence in Youtube videos as his hip-hop alter ego ‘The Phantom.’
The 25-year-old was then sacked by ITV who felt they had ‘no choice’ but to terminate his contract in which Fountain was said to have been ‘mortified’ to bring so much embarrassment to colleagues and employers”.
The videos have now been taken down from Youtube which showed Fountain wearing a Halloween mask, miming stabbing motions, claiming he was “bored with fame”.
Fountain said in a statement this morning: “My biggest regret however is not to do with losing my job, but that I have hurt and let down so many people including those in a vulnerable situation and I am so very deeply ashamed of this.
“The lyrics that appeared online were influenced by a style of hip-hop that I was experimenting with at a private freestyle session and blurted out in a moment of madness.
“There is absolutely no excuse – I take complete responsibility for my actions – but they were in no way thought out or represent at all my attitude towards women, rape and violence.”
The actor who shot to fame playing Justin Burton in Hollyoaks claimed that he made the videos more than a year ago when he was first experimenting with music.
Fountain said he had ‘two wonderful years’ playing the role of Tommy Duckworth and had ‘only happy memories of my time on Coronation Street’.
Image courtesy of Chris Fountain via Youtube, with thanks.
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