Flash actor Hartley Sawyer fired from The Flash

[Earth 2 Chris]

I'm a bit conflicted as well, especially after James Gunn was "forgiven" and rehired (because we all REALLY wanted Guardians 3) for similar statements, although perhaps his were more outlandish and probably more readily accepted as clearly joking.

The CW shows are very inclusive, and honestly, quite often preachy (especially Supergirl. It should come with a hymnal). I'm really surprised Berlanti and crew didn't go through everyone's social media BEFORE they hired them. Especially a relative latecomer like Sawyer, after other actors had already been brought down by their media presence.

Chris

[enyawd72]

THIS is what's wrong with society today. Everybody is so GD thin-skinned and gets offended at the slightest little thing.

Well, I hate to tell you guys, but this entire BOARD is full of misogynist, racist homophobes. Want proof? How many of us watched Dukes of Hazzard growing up? Well, you obviously support the Confederacy, and therefore condone slavery.
Did you ever watch Blazing Saddles and laugh? Well, then you're a racist. What about Rudolph? It glorifies bullying and body shaming! Add that one to the list. I Dream of Jeannie? A woman subservient to a MAN, and she calls him MASTER? Misogynist!
Three's Company? A straight man PRETENDING to be gay?! How insensitive! And the list goes on, and on, and on, and on...
Pretty soon none of us will be able to do or say or think ANYTHING other that what our perfectly politically correct overlords tell us, and if we step out of line for even a split second, we're done for.

[enyawd72]

What bothers me is these were out there WAY before The flash started and before he got his roll. So why didn't the studio do a proper background check on him?

Since when does a background check include everything a person has ever said? He's not a freaking criminal...he made a joke.
Where we are headed with all this is scary. People need to wake up. I see a future where you will be denied employment, credit, housing...who knows what else,
all because you made a boob joke in your 20's and you're permanently branded an evil misogynist unfit for society.

[monitor_ep]

When casting for a role in a Super-Hero show there should be hirer standards. A simple dive in any actors online presence would have solved this problem, this is done by colleges and other business so the CW should have done so.

As for Hartley he was a comedian who fell into that Shock-Joke comedy that at the time was funny (to some) and over the years did not look good. I am old enough to have seen other forms of comedy that over the years falls out of the current mood. It happens.

[enyawd72]

When casting for a role in a Super-Hero show there should be hirer standards. A simple dive in any actors online presence would have solved this problem, this is done by colleges and other business so the CW should have done so.

As for Hartley he was a comedian who fell into that Shock-Joke comedy that at the time was funny (to some) and over the years did not look good. I am old enough to have seen other forms of comedy that over the years falls out of the current mood. It happens.

A joke he made 8 years ago shouldn't matter. PERIOD. We are heading down a slippery slope with no brakes. Where will it end? "I'm sorry Mr. Smith...you're qualified for the position, but we found a picture of you online wearing a Dukes of Hazzard t-shirt holding a General Lee toy car when you were 12. Yes, we realize you're 45 years old now, but we can't hire you. Sorry." It's going to happen.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I definitely feel he is at least partially a victim of an unfortunate time where the country is re-examining what they consider is acceptable behavior. Had these tweets surfaced a few months ago, he may have just been asked to publicly apologize and possibly been suspended for some time just to do some kind of penance. But his remarks regarding race are what really did him in, and with what's going on in the country right now, a zero tolerance approach is understandable.

I don't think anyone is going to crucify John Schneider for driving the General Lee 35 years ago, though. I would hope people would consider that was from a time when "southern pride" was thought to be removed from the historical implications of the symbolism once associated with racial oppression. Unfortunately, others with horrible intentions have reclaimed that symbol to mean exactly what it once did, so that kind of iconography is now tainted.

Chris

[palitoy]

I'm a bit conflicted as well, especially after James Gunn was "forgiven" and rehired (because we all REALLY wanted Guardians 3) for similar statements, although perhaps his were more outlandish and probably more readily accepted as clearly joking.

The big difference is James Gunn can really craft a joke, it was shocking but you can totally tell it's meant merely as humour, that's why it was met with so much outrage that he got gassed in the first place.

This dude isn't so blessed creatively, I'm certain he meant them as funny but it's just **** poor "Shock Jockery". Some of them are downright weird.

The CW shows are very inclusive, and honestly, quite often preachy (especially Supergirl. It should come with a hymnal). I'm really surprised Berlanti and crew didn't go through everyone's social media BEFORE they hired them. Especially a relative latecomer like Sawyer, after other actors had already been brought down by their media presence.

I think this has EVERYTHING to do with who is watching the Flash in great numbers and fellas, it ain't us driving that bus. I'm willing to bet it's largely young women. His "Jokes" seem to revolve around them and so CW threw the baby out with the bathwater. I wonder if they'll recast Ralph or write him off?

[Earth 2 Chris]

The big difference is James Gunn can really craft a joke, it was shocking but you can totally tell it's meant merely as humour, that's why it was met with so much outrage that he got gassed in the first place.

This dude isn't so blessed creatively, I'm certain he meant them as funny but it's just **** poor "Shock Jockery". Some of them are downright weird.

True. Racial remarks and date rape don't seem as over the top as Gunn's comments about Justin Beiber, and are therefore more "skeevy".

I think this has EVERYTHING to do with who is watching the Flash in great numbers and fellas, it ain't us driving that bus. I'm willing to bet it's largely young women. His "Jokes" seem to revolve around them and so CW threw the baby out with the bathwater. I wonder if they'll recast Ralph or write him off?

Agreed. They definitely try to court the LGBTQ community as well, so of course that audience is going to be more sensitive to such things than your average white 40-50 year old males.

Chris

[sprytel]

THIS is what's wrong with society today. Everybody is so GD thin-skinned and gets offended at the slightest little thing.

If you think *this* is what is wrong with our society, I don't think you have been paying attention to the news lately.

[Werewolf]

Agreed. They definitely try to court the LGBTQ community as well, so of course that audience is going to be more sensitive to such things than your average white 40-50 year old males.

Yeah, the intended audience is tween girls and LGBTQ tweens. Rape jokes are just not a good fit for the demo.

I would hope people would consider that was from a time when "southern pride" was thought to be removed from the historical implications of the symbolism once associated with racial oppression. Unfortunately, others with horrible intentions have reclaimed that symbol to mean exactly what it once did, so that kind of iconography is now tainted.

I think it's more that so many of us were possibly unaware of the historical meanings. Never a big fan of the show but as a child I wasn't really aware that the symbols and leaders of the confederacy have been used as weapons of hate since the Jim Crow era.

[palitoy]

I just want to add that I think the practice of mining old TV and Movies for an offense is a stupid and futile practice.

We grow as a society and hell, we've made some real strides, maybe not fast as everyone would like but wow, look at something from 50 years ago and you start to notice that culturally, we've raised a bar or two. Heck, watching 80s movies with my children sometimes, they look at me like I'm an alien.

Some things just don't age very well and will no longer be celebrated, I get that, it doesn't mean they're wiped from existence.

[Hector]

I think the entire cast should be fired. The Flash should be canned, heck...the entire CW network should be dismantled and thrown into the garbage can, lol.

But on a serious note, the dude was an idiot. Yes, we all have said stupid stuff in the past, none of us are perfect.

But if you are going to be a public figure, be very careful what you are going to throw out there.

Should his career be over? Should he be blacklisted forever?

No.

Everyone deserves a second chance (unless you are a murderer, child molester, etc).

[cjefferys]

We live in a "gotcha" culture, and apparently no one is allowed to evolve and grow as a person anymore, if you were an insensitive jerk when you were in your 20's, then you still must be one now, right? Unfortunately, that's where we are now as a society, so folks need to remember that when posting or tweeting stuff, and if there is something iffy in your past, pray someone doesn't find it. They teach stuff like this to kids in school these days, but older generations obviously never had to learn how to navigate and properly engage in social media when we were kids. But if you are going to post something in public with your name attached, use common sense. And leave the edgy, offensive humor to the professionals. I always say, you are free to make a joke about whatever topic you wish, but if it might be offensive to some (or many), it damn well better be funny. This actor's "jokes" weren't even close to that.

[palitoy]

We live in a "gotcha" culture, and apparently no one is allowed to evolve and grow as a person anymore, if you were an insensitive jerk when you were in your 20's, then you still must be one now, right? Unfortunately, that's where we are now as a society, so folks need to remember that when posting or tweeting stuff, and if there is something iffy in your past, pray someone doesn't find it. They teach stuff like this to kids in school these days, but older generations obviously never had to learn how to navigate and properly engage in social media when we were kids. But if you are going to post something in public with your name attached, use common sense. And leave the edgy, offensive humor to the professionals. I always say, you are free to make a joke about whatever topic you wish, but if it might be offensive to some (or many), it damn well better be funny. This actor's "jokes" weren't even close to that.

Yeah, I've said it a million times to my wife but I'm glad that social media didn't exist in college. I'd hate to be judged by the actions of that half-cooked, emotionally immature dink.

[EMCE Hammer]

We live in a "gotcha" culture, and apparently no one is allowed to evolve and grow as a person anymore, if you were an insensitive jerk when you were in your 20's, then you still must be one now, right? Unfortunately, that's where we are now as a society, so folks need to remember that when posting or tweeting stuff, and if there is something iffy in your past, pray someone doesn't find it. They teach stuff like this to kids in school these days, but older generations obviously never had to learn how to navigate and properly engage in social media when we were kids. But if you are going to post something in public with your name attached, use common sense. And leave the edgy, offensive humor to the professionals. I always say, you are free to make a joke about whatever topic you wish, but if it might be offensive to some (or many), it damn well better be funny. This actor's "jokes" weren't even close to that.

I tell this to my kids all the time. If some of the stuff I did in high school ever got out I'd probably be unemployable. Nor would I have even gotten into a decent school, as I didn't have any redeeming qualities like being rich or greatly athletic.

Those old tweets of Hartley's were ugly, weak, twisted attempts at humor in my opinion. It used to be that something like that would be hard to live down, but not impossible. I don't think it's fair that this guy's toast, but guys like Axel Rose and Kid Rock still have jobs. Such a waste, he's headed for really hard times. They are way worse people walking around who could/should be made an example of the way I see it.