Ingo Rademacher’s time on General Hospital is over.
The veteran actor will not return to the ABC soap after some of his castmates called him out for sharing an anti-transgender meme on social media.
Rademacher’s final episode will air on November 22, and he will wrap up a 25 season stint.
The star caught heat over the weekend when he shared a screen-grabbed tweet that misgendered a trans woman. The same tweet also identified her as a member of “ClownTown.”
The post drew criticism from fellow General Hospital stars Cassandra James, a transgender woman, and Nancy Lee Grahn.
“I am aware of a transphobic post shared by a fellow General Hospital actor. Shame on you,” James wrote on Twitter.
“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,” James added.
Grahn responded to James’ tweet, writing that Rademacher “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 [James] & the trans community.”
On Monday, Rademacher stood by the comparison in a video on Instagram.
“I don’t really think it’s OK to call a trans an ’empowered woman,’ because where does that leave women? Women have fought so hard to get on a level playing field with men…. So I don’t agree with that.”
The star apologized for not modifying the shared tweet to eliminate the misgendering in the tweet.
“I do apologize for not crossing out ‘dude’ and putting ‘transgender,’” he said. “Me, personally, I wouldn’t have written it that way.”
Rademacher has also been opposed to vaccine mandates, courting controversy after sharing calls for a walkout by health care and government workers recently.
The actor has been on the show throughout some of its biggest storylines, and given the nature of his exit, it’s unclear whether there will be any resolution for Jax.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.
