The Flash actor Hartley Sawyer just became yet another out-of-work actor in Hollywood after being fired from the hit series over inflammatory tweets that resurfaced late last month.
The tweets were written by Sawyer when he was in his mid to late 20s and contain homophobic and racist language and make flippant remarks about sexual assault, spousal abuse, and committing acts of violence against homeless people, among other things.
“I don’t care and f*gs are fine but sports often make me snore,” one of them reads.
“The only thing stopping me from doing mildly racist tweets is the knowledge that Al Sharpton would never stop complaining about me,” another says.
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“As a lad, one of my favorite activities was kidnapping homeless women and cutting off their breasts,” a third remarks.
“Date rape myself so I don’t have to masturbate,” a fourth jokes.
Since the tweets have resurfaced, Sawyer’s Twitter account has been deleted, but screenshots continue to circulate online.
Hartley Sawyer, you have been exposed… pic.twitter.com/ig5VBXoZmK
— Skai Jackson (@skaijackson) June 5, 2020
Now, The CW says the 35-year-old actor has been fired.
A statement from The CW, producers Warner Bros. TV and Berlanti Productions, and executive producer Eric Wallace reads:
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.
Meanwhile, Sawyer has taken to Instagram to issue a lengthy apology.
“My words, irrelevant of being meant with an intent of humor, were hurtful, and unacceptable,” he writes. “I am ashamed I was capable of these really horrible attempts to get attention at that time. I regret them deeply.”
Related: Daniel Radcliffe criticizes J.K. Rowling’s tweets on sex and gender
Black Pegasus
Wow, another one? lol
Mister P
Some people seem to forget that we have free speech in this country and there can also be consequences. Although they are free to say ignorant , trans and homophobic and racist comments.
Kangol2
That is not what “free speech” means under US Constitutional law. You can stand in the public square and denounce the US government, and rant to your heart’s content about anything that is not a threat of violence against other people or the government, a call for an attack on others, outright libel, etc.
But a private company–a movie studio, Twitter, etc.–may decide to fire or dismiss you if they do not like your speech and somehow harms them or their bottom line. Speech has consequences, as this creep learned.
Gadfeal
In general, one is free to express an opinion of interpretation but to tout falsehoods that are demeaning and without merit does cause harm to others; it should be sanctioned as it is in all the democracies where I’ve lived.
adb12
So… fired for tweets roughly a decade old? After an apology that didn’t include the awful “I’m sorry someone was offended by my words” but did include what sounded like a full acceptance of responsibility (and regret)? Sorry–that’s an overreaction to me.
Hdtex
Nope. You fail again.
innocentgay
Well, you should be grateful for such strict gatekeepers. Since the evidence shows that Americans are willing to vote for the face that appears on TV the most, regardless of ability, qualifications, temperament, or STD status, we need to be aiming for blameless.
Aaron
You don’t just stop being homophobic, sexist, and racist after saying nothing for years and apologizing after being blasted. I’m glad he got fired. Lol
Gadfeal
If there were not deadly consequences due to discrimination, I would let it pass but the “I’m joking” or “I was going with the flow.” is understandable when you are a minor, but in today’s hyper connected world, there’s no excuse as Germans in Nuremburg argued.
If parents are not educating their children that discrimination is not only morally wrong but that, en masse, it destroys lives or makes them extremely difficult.
Besides that, he was truly an idiot as we all known that posting to cyberspace is FOREVER. Employers are not asking for social media pseudonyms and software scrapes them for red flags. If it’s a joke for a group, don’t post it. Reminds me of some idiotic British girl on a “Reality TV” show in a house making distasteful comments about a group of “ethnics”. Guess what, 5 years later looking for a job, her comments were raised during interviews – and she was usually rejected when potential employers discovered them.
dmanhart
Imagine being fired for something one did 15+ years ago.
Make sure nobody sees what you’ve done in your youth. I know I would be fired if some of the things I’ve done came to light. (ie looking for sex in a park)
The Flash is the gayest show on tv. With two of the stars, including the title character, being openly gay men. And another character, the police lieutenant, shows as being openly gay.
After a certain number of decades has past, can’t we give someone credit for redemption? Or is the hatred just too sweet to not spew?
MrMichaelJ
So the homophobic comments is “f@gs are fine”? Wow, wake me up when we find someone saying “f@gs aren’t fine”… Until then whatever. These are a decade old, the apology sounds sincere.
Hdtex
Apology NOT accepted.
Aaron
Yup, it was homophobic.
Gadfeal
He was an adult when he made them. He is of a generation that is aware the Internet posting are for eternity. Yes, he was an idiot, but to provide the excuse of “It was a joke” is to facile – much as Germans who had elected Hitler into power claimed that they blindly followed the flow and didn’t suspect that genocide and torture was occurring.
Enough is enough.
sacha99
So all you’re concerned about is the homophobic comments and not the racist or sexist ones. Goodness, Some gays are the most selfish entitled pricks
Dijonaise
I am sure it will come out that he’s a self hating, co¢k sukin’ f@g. The fake “lad” bullshit is the first clue.
Brian
I don’t understand how this even happens anymore. By now I would think that every publicist or manager or agent of anyone in the public eye would have gone over their social media with a fine tooth comb and gotten rid of anything remotely problematic.
Aaron
It takes a long time to de-program your racism, sexism, and homophobia. You can’t just apologize and it will go away. It takes time. In that time, he can work on it while he’s unemployed! Hahahaha
curiobi
WTF with this? I love that show, this is disappointing. I don’t accept his apology because if you did something stupid like this in your past, although at 25 at the time he was hardly a child, -you come out ahead of it. Liam Neeson did, and while many were unhappy as fans of his, the general consensus was at least he admitted that was how he felt at the time and he had since grown and matured.
All this guy had to do was say ten years ago I was a very different person, and I posted stupid, racist, homophobic, misogynistic, things and I am really ashamed of who I was and want to apologise. You do that BEFORE you are exposed. Because no one really believes your apology afterwards.
What is most annoying is the actress who plays Iris on the show, Candice, was getting so much racist abuse that Grant, who plays Flash posted a video in her defence. How can Hartley, who played Ralph, have seen what she was going through, known he had posted racist things to social media in the past and done nothing?
He should have at least come out then and said he used to be this way and has changed.
So no, I am bitterly disappointed, and I do not want to hear amy lame apologies now. -Also that thing about kidnapping women and cutting their breast off, WT actual F with that?! On what planet is that just jokes?
WSnyder
100% Agreed. I often wonder how many of these ‘apologies’ are actually written from the individual and if that’s how they actually feel or are they just written by the publicist/agency that represents them for damage control?
trsxyz
Seems like a big jerk.
mecmass
I think he was probably more stupid than he was racist or homophobic; I see the misguided attempt at humor in his posts. And no, I don’t condone racist or homophobic humor. But there really is a difference between someone who is a true racist and homophobe and one who is just plain ignorant. I believe he was the latter.
DuMaurier
The ones I read sounded like he was channeling Andrew Dice Clay (not a great idea) I didn’t know who Sawyer was before this story, but I checked his IMDb and he tweeted this stuff when he was, if not a star, a steadily working actor presumably shooting for bigger things. Meaning, he thought posting these things publicly was consistent with that; that they wouldn’t hurt his ‘rise’ in Hollywood. At some point he saw his error and deleted the tweets; but how did he ever think it was a good idea, career-wise?
pete54
I must say, his apology comes across as more genuine, with some real self-reflection, than most. No weasel words about being sorry IF anyone was offended, but a clear recognition that his earlier words were wrong, stupid and offensive.
Georgeiv2
Sorry another apology from someone after they were found out ! That cut no ice with me Foul comments from a foul man When someone tells you who they are believe them !!
Sly
I think the media, and society, is taking political correction too far. This will end up being a witch hunt in which no one will be able to express anything, and all those who do not agree with all the most leftist and radical policies will be “burned at the stake” to say the least. You don’t want people to vote for Trump, or Republicans, but taking everything increasingly to the extreme, people are going to continue voting for people like Trump, and the centrists / moderates are going to end up going that way. You punish someone who just made a silly TW long time ago (that even wasn’t saying something terrible about us) like if he was it the ULTIMATE HOMOPHOBE. They are tweets that he made years ago! People change. If it is for that reason, no one is free from having ever done something wrong, it will end up being a dictatorship of the “moral superiors” … it is ridiculous and insane.
Besides where is the forgive ?? If we keep this way, this isn’t gonna end well. and the political extremes are gonna Eat Us.