Showrunner Eric Wallace has released an official statement on the firing of Hartley Sawyer from Grant Gustin’s The Flash series, after a series of racist and misogynist tweets from Sawyer surfaced online.
Sawyer, who joined the series back in 2017, was let go from his role as Ralph Dibney a.k.a. The Elongated Man today after a series of tweets containing racist, homophobic, and misogynist references circulated online over the last two weeks amid global protests against systemic racism after the death of George Floyd in May.
Wallace took to Twitter to share an official statement, expressing his sadness and anger towards Sawyer over the actor’s tweets. In his post, Wallace also condemned systemic racism and expressed his commitment to the hiring of more diverse talent both in front of and behind the camera on The CW series.
https://twitter.com/ewrote/status/1270054340607143937?s=20
The series will now move forward without Sawyer’s involvement although it is unclear as to whether or not the actor will be recast or if the character will be dropped from the show completely. The Flash is set to return in 2021 after the sixth season was cut short due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Here’s the official synopsis for The Flash Season Seven:
Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) lived a normal life as a perpetually tardy C.S.I. in the Central City Police Department. Barry’s life changed forever when the S.T.A.R. Labs Particle Accelerator exploded, creating a dark-matter lightning storm that struck Barry, bestowing him with superspeed and making him the fastest man alive — The Flash. After a thrilling cliffhanger last season which saw the new Mirror Master (Efrat Dor) victorious and still-at-large in Central City, The Flash must regroup in order to stop her and find a way to make contact with his missing wife, Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton).
With help from the rest of Team Flash, which includes superheroes Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker), Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes), Ralph Dibny (Hartley Sawyer), and Nash Wells (Tom Cavanagh), as well as the Flash’s adoptive father Joe West (Jesse L. Martin), Meta-Attorney Cecile Horton (Danielle Nicolet), tough cub reporter Allegra Garcia (Kayla Compton) and brilliant tech-nerd Chester P. Runk (Brandon McKnight)…Flash will ultimately defeat Mirror Master. But in doing so, he’ll also unleash an even more powerful and devastating threat on Central City: one that threatens to tear his team—and his marriage—apart.
The Flash stars Grant Gustin as Barry Allen, Candice Patton as Iris West, Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow / Killer Frost, Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon / Vibe, Tom Cavanagh as Harrison Wells, Jesse L. Martin as Joe West, and Danielle Nicolet as Cecile Horton.
The Flash Season 7 will return on The CW in 2021. Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for all the latest news on the situation with Hartley Sawyer, the Arrowverse, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content in the future!
