Hartley Sawyer, who played Ralph Dibny on The Flash for the past three seasons, has been fired from the show after a string of racist, homophobic and misogynistic tweets resurfaced.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, one of Sawyer’s tweets from 2012 said: “The only thing keeping me from doing mildly racist tweets is the knowledge that Al Sharpton would never stop complaining about me.”
Another tweet from 2013 said: “Super Bowl! America! 80% of the prison population is African-American!”
The CW and Warner Brothers, executive producer Eric Wallace, and Berlanti Productions released a statement announcing Sawyer’s termination.
“Hartley Sawyer will not be returning for season seven of The Flash,” the statement read. “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. Such remarks are antithetical to our values and policies, which strive and evolve to promote a safe, inclusive, and productive environment for our workforce.”
Executive producer Eric Wallace issue his own statement, as well, saying in part, “Showrunner Wallace tweeted a statement that reads in part, “This morning, many of you learned that Hartley Sawyer will not be returning for season seven of The Flash. Concerning his social media tweets, they broke my heart and made me mad as hell. And they’re indicative of the larger problem in our country.”
Sawyer issued an apology on Instagram, saying, “My words, irrelevant of being meant with an intent of humor, were hurtful, and unacceptable. 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 behavior. 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.”
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