Jasper “Jax” Jacks is officially being discharged from General Hospital.
Ingo Rademacher has been part of the juggernaut soap opera on and off for 25 years, but his time on the show has now come to an end. The news broke shortly after the actor came under fire for sharing a transphobic post on his Instagram (which can still be seen HERE.)
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The message in question was reposted from Twitter, in which a user compared Dr. Rachel Levine, the first transgender person to earn four-star rank in the U.S. uniformed services, to Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, the first Black woman elected to that position. The caption read:
“Hello, and welcome to ClownTown, where the dude on the left is an empowering woman, and the woman on the right is a white supremacist.”
Rademacher was quickly called out by costars, including Cassandra James, who is trans herself. She tweeted:
“I am aware of a transphobic post shared by a fellow General Hospital actor. Shame on you. You have some serious unlearning and education to do. I feel deeply disappointed that such a public display of ignorance could come from our GH family. … Misgendering trans folks is violence and if you come for one of us, you come for all of us. The cis world doesn’t get to decide which of us is valuable. I am so proud of the fans for always holding us to a high standard, for calling out transphobia and violence.”
Misgendering trans folks is violence and if you come for one of us, you come for all of us. The cis world doesn’t get to decide which of us is valuable. I am so proud of the fans for always holding us to a high standard, for calling out transphobia and violence.
— Cassandra James (@cassandrajames_) November 8, 2021
Ingo shared a video response on Monday in which he apologized specifically to James, calling her “an absolute talent” and “absolutely gorgeous” (though he couldn’t help pat himself on the back and add, “I don’t think a transphobic man would say that”). The 50-year-old stated:
“I do apologize for not crossing out ‘dude’ and putting ‘transgender,’ I apologize for that. Me, personally, I wouldn’t have written it that way. That was somebody else’s post. Again, that’s not an excuse. I should have just pointed it out.”
However, he added that he doesn’t think “it’s okay to call a transgender an empowered woman because where does that leave women?” This is not much of an apology…
View this post on Instagram
Nancy Lee Grahn, another veteran of GH, also addressed the controversy, tweeting:
“The fellow actor, #IngoRademacher, is mercifully no longer a part of the #gh cast. Transphobia & misgendering are disgusting & should be unacceptable in any industry, including soaps/acting. I stand with my costar, @cassandrajames_, & the trans community.”
The fellow actor, #IngoRademacher, is mercifully no longer a part of the #gh cast. Transphobia & misgendering are disgusting & should be unacceptable in any industry, including soaps/acting. I stand with my costar, @cassandrajames_, & the trans community. https://t.co/pjj6FzEncg
— Nancy Lee Grahn (@NancyLeeGrahn) November 8, 2021
Innerestingly, though, the transphobia was reportedly not the reason for Rademacher’s firing. Instead, according to The Hollywood Reporter, he was let go for a completely different right-wing controversy — refusing to comply with the show’s vaccine mandate. The soap star has been open about his anti-vax views; over the summer, fans called for his firing because of it. At the time, Rademacher called his detractors “morons, dictators and horrible, horrible” people.
Related: Aaron Rodgers ‘Furious’ His Vaccination Status Got Leaked, Blasts ‘Woke Mob’
On Sunday, he doubled down on his position, posting a selfie on IG with the caption:
“I will stand with you to fight for medical freedom. #medicalfreedom #nomandates #woke #awakening #coersionisnotconsent”
View this post on Instagram
Yikes. Seems like there were a lot of good reasons for the show to part ways with Rademacher. We hope that set is safer and more comfortable for the other actors now that he has departed.
[Image via ABC/YouTube]
The post Longtime <i>General Hospital</i> Star FIRED Following Transphobic Post appeared first on Perez Hilton.
