After a series of offensive social media posts that were deemed racist and misogynistic in nature had resurfaced, THE FLASH actor Hartley Sawyer has been terminated from his role as Elongated Man for the CW superhero series.
“Hartley Sawyer will not be returning for Season 7 of The Flash,” according to a joint statement released to Deadline from Warner Bros. TV, The CW, Berlanti Productions and executive producer Eric Wallace. “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.”
Wallace later posted a statement regarding Sawyer's firing to social media, which you can read for yourself below:
Though Sawyer's Twitter account has since been deleted, screen shots of his reprehensible behavior continue to make the rounds online. In one of the actor's tweets from 2012, Sawyer wrote, “The only thing keeping me from doing mildly racist tweets is the knowledge that Al Sharpton would never stop complaining about me.” Then in 2014, he wrote, "Enjoyed a secret boob viewing at an audition today." To make matters worse, several of Sawyer's tweets were in reference to assaulting women, such as this one that reads, "Date rape myself so I don't have to masturbate." Gross.
While Sawyer's damaging tweets were posted before he had joined the cast of THE FLASH, that didn't stop his online instances of hate speech and cruelty from being made an example of amidst a time of world crisis.
Not long after his tweets had resurfaced, Sawyer posted an apology to his official Instagram account:
“I’m not here to make excuses – regardless of the intention my words matter, and they carry profound consequences. And mine can and have caused pain and embarrassment, along with feelings I can only imagine, to supporters and fans, my cast mates, the crew, my colleagues and friends. I owe them all an apology. And I owe each of you an apology. Thank you for holding me accountable,” Sawyer's post begins.
His post then continues:
"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.
I am incredibly sorry, ashamed and disappointed in myself for my ignorance back then. 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."
Sawyer's firing from THE FLASH was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter. For the moment, there's no word as to whether Sawyer's role as Elongated Man will be taken up by another actor or if the character will be written out of the show entirely.