The Flash actor Hartley Sawyer has been fired from the hit CW TV show after fans uncovered several offensive tweets posted over several years. Sawyer is one of several entertainers and athletes to have lost their jobs over offensive comments in the last few months, with NASCAR driver Kyle Larson being fired after saying a racial slur during a Twitch stream.
On Twitter, The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace confirmed that Sawyer will not be returning for season seven of the popular DC superhero show. Sawyer had played Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man, on The Flash since 2017 and was made a series regular in 2018. Wallace also said that Sawyer's offensive posts "broke my heart and made me mad as hell." The statement spoke in support of the global Black Lives Matter protests which are protesting for racial justice.
The tweets posted by the former Flash actor seem to range from 2011 to 2014, before Sawyer was cast on the TV show. Sawyer, who was aged between 26 and 29 at the time, has deleted his Twitter account and has issued an apology on Instagram, but fans have screenshotted the tweets and are sharing them across social media. One of Sawyer's tweets said that if he had a wife, he would "beat the hell out of her," while another said that "all women should be in sex farms."
The CW has confirmed that The Flash season seven will air in 2021. The Arrowverse show is one of several that have been delayed because of COVID-19.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter