Hartley Sawyer, who played Ralph Dibny (Elongated Man) on CW's "The Flash", has been fired from the series after old tweets of his have surfaced containing racist, misogynistic, and homophobic references.
"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 policies, which strive and evolve to promote a safe, inclusive and productive environment for our workforce," read a statement from The CW, producers Warner Bros. TV and Berlanti Productions and executive producer, Eric Wallace.
The tweets are from before he joined the cast of "The Flash", some as far back as 2012. Screenshots had surfaced of the tweets have surfaced from the now deleted account.
"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," said Sawyer in an apology posted on Instagram.
