Uber is investigating allegations made by the actor Frances Barber, who claimed one of its drivers made disparaging remarks about her attire and said she should not be out late at night.
The actor, who has starred in BBC dramas including Doctor Who and Silk, had reportedly ordered the taxi to take her home after the London Evening Standard theatre awards at the Old Vic theatre in London.
Barber, 58, tweeted in the early hours of Monday morning that she had been shocked by the man’s comments, calling him a “sharia Uber driver”.
She claimed the offensive exchange took place after she remarked that it was a cold night, with temperatures plummeting to -2C. Her driver allegedly told her that she should not be so “disgustingly dressed”.
Just had a sharia Uber driver, first time in London. Shocked. Reported.
— frances barber (@francesbarber13) November 23, 2015
I get uber out of Old Vic & driver says as a woman I shouldn't be alone at night & I am disgustingly dressed. THIS IS LONDON>
— frances barber (@francesbarber13) November 23, 2015
@Maureen56596209 i said "oh its cold' & he said well if you weren't so disgustingly dressed !!!
— frances barber (@francesbarber13) November 23, 2015
The taxi app replied within an hour of Barber’s tweets about the alleged incident, promising a member of staff would be in touch:
@Uber_Support You have been great. this is very serious. thank you for your monitoring.
— frances barber (@francesbarber13) November 23, 2015
Barber told Twitter users she “got out of the cab, slammed [the] door and yelled” and tweeted Radio 4’s Corrie Corfield that she was upset by the incident, writing: “What a world we are living in.”
Uber said: “We were shocked about this unacceptable incident and immediately reached out to the rider to offer our full support. We will of course take appropriate action and would like to again extend our sincere apologies to the rider.”
Earlier in the evening, Barber, who has appeared in RSC and National Theatre productions, tweeted about how much she had enjoyed the awards ceremony.
Nicole Kidman won best actress and James McAvoy best actor at the awards, now in their 61st year. The ceremony was attended by stars including Dame Shirley Bassey, Kate Beckinsale and Salma Hayek.
