The Flash: Elongated Man Darsteller Hartley Sawyer gefeuert

Die folgende Meldung kam extrem überraschend, doch Hartley Sawyer, der Darsteller von Elongated Man/Ralph Dibny aus der The CW Serie „The Flash“, wurde gefeuert. Grund dafür waren frauenfeindliche, homophobe und rassistische Tweets, die der Darsteller über die Jahre hinweg auf der Social Media Plattform Twitter äußerte. Sein Account dort ist schon gelöscht worden und die Reaktion seitens The CW bzw. Flash Showrunner Eric Wallace folgte wohl postwendend: Hartley Sawyer wird keinen Platz mehr in der Serie haben.

„Hartley Sawyer will not be returning for season seven of The Flash. 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 polices, which strive and evolve to promote a safe, inclusive and productive environment for our workforce.“

Statement from The CW, producers Warner Bros. TV and Berlanti Productions and executive producer Eric Wallace

Sawyer selbst nahm auf seinem Instagramprofil Stellung. Er selbst will keine Ausflüchte suchen, sondern steht zu den Konsequenzen seines Fehlverhaltens. Er habe die besagten Tweets mit der falschen Intention, Aufmerksamkeit zu erlangen, veröffentlicht und er bereue die Tweets sehr.

Hier sein Post im originalen Wortlaut:

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 my 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.

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.

Hartley Sawyer via Instagram

Somit wird die Figur, die ihr Debüt in der 4. Staffel von „The Flash“ gab und seit der 5. Staffel zur Stammbesetzung war, wohl aus den Shows geschrieben.