Two weeks after the news that Ingo Rademacher was out at General Hospital following his recent anti-vax and transphobic remarks on social media, the ABC daytime soap has written him out.
The last episode for Rademacher, who plays Jasper “Jax” Jacks, aired on November 22, and he said goodbye in a scene with his ex-wife Carly (played by Laura Wright). He told her he was leaving Port Charles to deal with business in Sydney, Australia. And it would be the last anyone would see of him, he said, with no plans to return for the holidays. “I’m kind of on the outs with everyone in Port Charles right now,” he said.
That’s true of Rademacher, who first joined the cast of General Hospital in 1996, with the cast as well, following comments he posted on social media. The backlash began when the cast disagreed over a COVID vaccine mandate on set in August. “Getting vaccinated does not stop you from spreading the virus,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “That’s straight from the CDC. Mandating any vaccine is wrong but especially one that doesn’t help stop the spread, that’s nothing short of crazy talk.”
Then at the beginning of November, Rademacher referred to the U.S. assistant secretary for health, the first transgender four-star officer Rachel Levine, as “dude” on Instagram. His now former costars Cassandra James, who is trans, and Nancy Lee Grahn, responded to his post.
“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,” James wrote. “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.”
It was in Grahn’s response that she said he was “mercifully no longer a part of the #gh cast. Transphobia & misgendering are disgusting & should be unacceptable in any industry, including soaps/acting.”
General Hospital, Weekdays, ABC