Linden Furnell, who plays one of the lead roles in the rock musical Green Day’s American Idiot, has had his contract terminated. The production by shake & stir theatre, which is currently touring Australia, opens at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre tonight.

Linden Furnell with cast members in American Idiot. Photograph © Ken Leanfore

Furnell, who plays Johnny, announced his dismissal in a Facebook post on Tuesday saying that he had been sacked for making “a crude allusion to menstruation” during on-stage, off-mic banter with a female co-star. He said that he had apologised to his colleague and described the decision to sack him as a “knee-jerk reaction” and a “form of damage control/prevention”, claiming that he was “fired without so much as a conversation”.

In response to his post, shake & stir theatre issued a statement from the company’s Artistic Director Nick Skubij, which said:

“Ahead of the Melbourne opening of American Idiot the musical, Mr Furnell was dismissed from his role in the musical.

Mr Furnell’s dismissal was a consequence of breaching the company’s ‘Statement of Zero Tolerance to Inappropriate Behaviour’ previously communicated to him and all other company members by company management.

The decision to...