‘The Flash’ star Hartley Sawyer fired after racist and misogynistic tweets resurface

Hartley Sawyer has been fired from the CW series The Flash after a series of racist, homophobic and misogynistic tweets from his past resurfaced two weeks ago.The announcement of Sawyer's firing was made this week in a statement by the CW, Warner Bros., Berlanti Productions and The Flash’s Executive producer Eric Wallace, confirming the actor (who was a series regular) would not be returning for Season 7.Shared by The Hollywood Reporter, the statement made by the creators of The Flash condemned Sawyer’s past tweets and their sentiments. "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."Wallace, who is also the showrunner on The Flash, released a second statement and shared it with fans on social media. “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. And they're indicative of the larger problem in our country,” wrote Wallace. He then expanded the conversation to point out that Sawyer's is exactly the kind of behaviour and thought process that compounds in the violence against people of colour, Black people in particular, that the Black Lives Matter movement has been protesting against.

My statement regarding Hartley Sawyer and THE FLASH. pic.twitter.com/hni0MxOWZU

— Eric Wallace (@ewrote) June 8, 2020

Lead actor Grant Gustin, who has played Barry Allen/The Flash on all six seasons of the comic series, reposted Wallace’s statement on his own social media. “I don’t have much to add because Eric’s thoughts are stated so eloquently and powerfully,” wrote Gustin. “I will say I was shocked, saddened and angry when I saw the tweets. Words matter.”Sawyer joined the cast of The Flash in 2017 as Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man. Starting as a recurring character, Sawyer was promoted to series regular in 2018.[video_embed id='1973986']RELATED: High-profile editors step down amid racial discrimination claims [/video_embed]The tweets that circulated all appear to be from 2012 and 2014 and include graphic references to abusing women and animals as well as the admission, "just exposed myself as a racist, AGAIN." He added in another: “The only thing stopping me from doing mildly racist tweets is the knowledge that Al Sharpton would never stop complaining about me." Sawyer is 35, which means these tweets from 2012 were written when he was 27.The actor issued an apology on Instagram soon after the tweets resurfaced, writing “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.”Turning off the comments on the post, Sawyer said that he has been working on improving himself. “I want to be very clear: this is not reflective of what I think or who I am now,” he writes. “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.”[video_embed id='1973100']BEFORE YOU GO: Beyoncé supports Black Lives Matter during YouTube commencement [/video_embed]