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The CW’sArrowversehas had its fair share of stumbling blocks since the COVID-19 pandemic brought the entertainment industry to a standstill in the last couple of months.
Not only did the majority of The CW’sDCproperties have to alter and cut short their latest seasons, but the upcoming new seasons originally intended to be released in Fall 2020 have now been pushed back to January 2021.
However, the last couple of weeks have seen a shakeup with the talent in front of the camera. Not only was it reported recently thatBatwomanstar Ruby Rose has quit the titular role after just one season, but now it has been confirmed thatThe Flash’sElongated Man Hartley Sawyer has been fired from the series due to the emergence of racist and misogynistic tweets on the actor’s account this week.
It was confirmed that these tweets containing references to sexual assault and that use homophobic and racist language, were made prior to the actor landing the role of the superhero Elongated Man onThe Flashduring its fourth season in 2017, and the actor’s Twitter account has now been deleted.
A couple of examples of these tweets include one from 2012 in which Sawyer wrote “The only thing keeping me from doing mildly racist tweets is the knowledge that Al Sharpton would never stop complaining about me.” In 2014, he wrote, “Enjoyed a secret boob viewing at an audition today.” Other tweets make light of sexual assault, and one reads, “Date rape myself so I don’t have to masturbate.”
Sawyer has since issued an apology via hisInstagramaccount stating “”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.”
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.
A post shared byHartley Sawyer(@hartleysawyer) onMay 30, 2020 at 11:59am PDT
Hartley Sawyer first appeared as Ralph Dibney towards the beginning ofThe Flash’sfourth season where he was introduced as one of the villainous Thinker’s “bus metas” who were metahumans created by the villain to serve a purpose in his Enlightenment.
Joining forces with former rival Barry Allen and Team Flash, the super-stretchy Elongated Man became a valued member of the team both in terms of field support and comedy.
The latest season saw the introduction of Elongated Man’s comic-book wife Sue Dearbon (Natalie Dreyfuss) and fans were left to wait and see how the iconic comic-book couple would end up together.
But whileBatwomanis putting out a casting call for an original character to take up the Batwoman mantle, it is unknown exactly howThe Flashwill work around the sudden disappearance of one of the show’s core characters.
