Hartley Sawyer. Image: Instagram/@hartleysawyer
Hartley Sawyer, who played Ralph Dibney (The Elongated Man) in CW’s “The Flash” series, has been fired from the show after his controversial tweets in 2012 and 2014 surfaced online.
Sawyer’s tweets that had sexual assault, homophobic and racist references, among other things, have been dug up and compiled by Twitter users in the past weeks.
Among the tweets from Sawyer’s account, which has now been deleted, included the actor saying: “Dozing off on my couch like a child molester/my brother” and “Ice breakers: all women should be in sex farms.”
In another tweet dated 2012, Sawyer said, “The only thing stopping me from doing mildly racist tweets is the knowledge that Al Sharpton would never stop complaining about me.”
Twitter user @themirrorin6x17 was among the netizens who shared with the public screenshots of Sawyer’s controversial tweets via a thread on May 30.
https://twitter.com/themirrorin6x17/status/1266586463182995463
“The Flash” showrunner and executive producer Eric Wallace, an African American, has since released a statement condemning Sawyer’s tweets and noted how “they’re indicative of the larger problem in our country,” pointing out systemic racism and the recent killing of George Floyd.
“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,” he said in the statement posted on Twitter earlier today, June 9.
“[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,” Wallace added.
https://twitter.com/ewrote/status/1270054340607143937
Noting that “The Flash” is a family show, Wallace said he is committed to “bringing permanent change” to their work environment” by continuing to find black and brown writers, directors, actors and “producers of all genders to help tell FLASH stories.”
“Their stories are part of the American narrative, too, and must be heard. Ans the more you hear and see us, the more you will begin to recognize one simple fact: [we’re] human beings, too,” Wallace stressed.
He then addressed people who “still aren’t sure why” mass protests against racism have erupted across the United States, asking them to consider that every time a black or brown life is “harassed, harmed or murdered,” the U.S. “fractures and moves further and further away from any moral authority we often claim to have in this world.”
“Murder is not democracy. Systemic and institutional white privilege is not equality. Suppressing the free press with violence is not liberty. The only wat for you to be free is for all of us to be free,” he emphasized.
‘This is not reflective of who I am now’
Sawyer issued a public apology through Instagram on May 31, where he noted that he is ashamed of what he had said and admitted that “this was not acceptable behavior.”
“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,” he stressed.
“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,” he added.
The actor then underscored that he is “incredibly sorry, ashamed and disappointed” in himself for his ignorance back then, clarifying that “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,” Sawyer said.
“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 added. JB
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