Actor Hartley Sawyer has been fired from Superhero series “The Flash” following the resurfacing of his old misogynistic and racist tweets. These tweets, made before Sawyer joined the CW series as Ralph Dibny, included references to sexual assault and contained racist and homophobic language.
The show’s producers, Warner Bros TV, The CW and Berlanti Productions in concurrence with showrunner Eric Wallace, announced that Sawyer will not be returning for the show’s upcoming seventh season.
In a joint statement, the producers of the show stated, “In regards to Mr Sawyer’s posts on social media, we do not tolerate derogatory remarks that target any race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, or sexual orientation,” adding “Such remarks are antithetical to our values and policies, which strive and evolve to promote a safe, inclusive and productive environment for our workforce.”
In a lengthy post shared to twitter this Monday, Wallace addressed the announcement as well as Sawyers tweets. “This morning, many of you learned that Hartley Sawyer will not be returning for Season Seven of THE FLASH. Concerning his social media media tweets, they broke my heart and made me mad as hell. And they’re indicative of the larger problem in our country. Because at present, our country still accepts and protects the continual harassment— unconscious or otherwise—terrorizing and brutalizing of Black and Brown people, which is far too often fatal. That’s why our country is standing up once again and shouting, ‘ENOUGH!’ and taking to the streets to bring about active change,” said Wallace.
He went on to say “I, too, am committed to bringing permanent change to the work environment here on THE FLASH. Yes, this is a family show. But it’s for all families. That includes Black and Brown ones.”
Grant Gustin, who plays the lead in the series shared Wallace’s statement on his Instagram page. “I don’t have much to add because Eric’s thoughts are stated so eloquently and powerfully. I will say I was shocked, saddened and angry when I saw the tweets. Words matter,” he captioned the post.
Though Sawyer is yet to address his firing, earlier last week he took to instagram to apologize for his tweets. “I am ashamed I was capable of these really horrible attempts to get attention at that time. I regret them deeply. This was not acceptable behaviour. These were words I threw out at the time with no thought or recognition of the harm my words could do, and now have done today,” the actor said. He went on to say that he is a different person now than he was when he wrote those tweets.
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“I want to be very clear: this is not reflective of what I think or who I am now. Years ago, thanks to friends and experiences who helped me to open my eyes, I began my journey into becoming a more responsible adult – in terms of what I say, what I do, and beyond. I’ve largely kept that journey private, and this is another way that I have let so many down. I still have more work to do. But how I define myself now does not take away the impact of my words, or my responsibility for them. I am very sorry,” he said.
