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's  has been axed from  Pride for liking a series of transphobic and homophobic tweets, with the singer saying he is 'disappointed' in himself in a grovelling apology. <br>The musician was set to headline the LGBTIQA Festival, Groovebox, in July, alongside the likes of Horse Meat Disco, Essel and Sam Sax. <br>Howard's performance at the event was condemned by fans who noticed his recent online activity - his  account has since been deleted following the backlash. <br>Announcing the news in a statement on Friday, Nottingham Pride said: 'In light of recent events, Howard Donald will no longer be playing at our Nottingham Pride Festival on Saturday 29th July at Binks Yard.<br>'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.' <br>      (image:  )    Take That's Howard Donald has been axed from Nottingham Pride after the singer liked a series of transphobic and homophobic tweets<br>They continued: 'The Groovebox team stands in solidarity with the wider LGBTQ+ community, we believe every person has the right to be their authentic true self without fear of persecution and hatred.<br>'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.' <br>Sharing his own statement to Instagram, Howard wrote: 'I have made a huge error in my judgement liking social media posts that are derogatory towards the LGBTQIA+ community and for that I a deeply sorry and I know I have let everyone down.<br>'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.'<br>MailOnline has contacted representatives for both Howard and Nottingham Pride for comment. <br>Prior to his account being tak, from , was seen trying out a new  filter for a video on the Funday Natural Sweets account. <br>However, as brand founder Daniel Kitay walked by he said a few 'nasty' comments claiming she'd been slack all morning and should expect a performance meeting the next day.<br>A video capturing the conversation between the two shows Katie looking taken aback while Daniel blasts her in the background for making unsuccessful marketing videos. <br>While many were quick to dub the boss' behaviour as a 'red flag' others were convinced the skit is 'fake' and 'staged'. <br>And Funday confirmed to FEMAIL the cheeky video was indeed a hoax created in a bid to send the company 'viral'. <br>Scroll down for video<br>      (image:  )    Kate Ritchie was seen trying out a new TikTok filter for a video on the Funday Natural Sweets account.  However, as brand founder Daniel Kitay walked by he said a few nasty comments claiming she's been slack all morning<br>      (image:  )    A viral video captured the conversation and while many were quick to dub the boss' behaviour as a 'red flag' others were convinced the skit is 'fake' and 'staged'<br>      At first Kate appears to be having fun trying the new filter before her expression changes completely. <br>Daniel asks: 'Kate what are you doing?  It's 12 o'clock, I literally have not seen you do anything. What have you been doing?' <br>She quietly responds by saying 'research' before Daniel starts up again. <br>'We've got a very limited budget [and] limited resources. Everyone that comes on needs to pull their weight otherwise there's no point having you around. Has any of the videos that you've put up gone viral?' he said - and few videos have reached 10,000 views. <br>'We've got a board meeting tomorrow, we're going to discuss your performance, and in the meantime it would be really helpful if you got your s*** together and put up a video that went viral. <br>'At least I could go to the board to say you've been doing something cause at the moment it's s***house.' <br>Kate, who co-owns the quirky jewellery business Brass & Bone, has a proven repertoire when it comes to going viral on social media and boasts more than 193,000 TikTok followers.<br>offer healthier versions of popular lollies, containing no added sugar and one whole bag contains 107 calories.<br>      (image:  )    Kate Ritchie, who co-owns the quirky jewellery business Brass & Bone, has a proven repertoire when it comes to going viral on social media and boasts more than 193,000 TikTok followers<br>      (image:  )    In a follow-up video, the two sit down to discuss their marketing strategy and the clip is also full of satire <br>In six days the video exceeded more than 1.7million views, and opinions were divided.  <br>'Kate is best employee and you can't tell me otherwise!  give her a promotion!' one wrote. <br>'Red flag - you don't need to put up with him!' another added, a third said: 'Dan needs to watch out before we get our pitch forks and come for him.' <br>However, others speculated the conversation wasn't genuine.<br>'Clever marketing,' one commented, another added: 'So staged.' <br>'I feel like this is setup just to go viral,' a third wrote. <br>'This is a skit.  But it's genuinely scary to me that most people think he's in the wrong here. It says a lot,' another said.<br>      (image:  )    Funday Natural Lollies offer healthier versions of popular sweets<br>Daniel Kitay told FEMAIL: 'At FUNDAY, we thrive on diversity and innovation, constantly adapting our marketing approaches to authentically engage with our target audience.<br>'We love how this video crafted with satirical intent by our epic FUNDAY Content Creator Kate has sparked a global dialogue on new age marketing techniques like TikTok.<br>'It's fascinating to witness how it resonates with diverse audiences, showcasing the varied perspectives and opinions that shape our evolving business landscape.<br>'We love to have FUN here at FUNDAY Sweets HQ and our TikTok is a way we bring that to life by sharing everything from behind the scenes to satire skits.'<br>