'General Hospital' Star Exits After Protesting Vaccine Mandate

General Hospital star Ingo Rademacher left the show recently amid his ongoing protest against COVID-19 vaccination mandates. His status on the show came to light over the weekend when his former co-stars Cassandra James and Nancy Lee Grahn blasted him for a transgender tweet. Rademacher, who has played Jasper "Jax" Jacks since 1996, later apologized for the offensive tweet in a video in which he still said he did not agree on it a transgender woman should be called an "empowered woman."

Over the weekend, Rademacher shared a screenshot of a tweet published by conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey, in which Stuckey referred to the Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine as a "dude." Levine is the first openly transgender four-star officer in the eight uniformed services and the first openly transgender woman to hold a position requiring Senate approval. "Welcome to ClownTown, where the dude on the left is an empowering woman, and the woman on the right is a white supremacist," the tweet read. The woman on the right in the tweet is Virginia Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears, who is Black.

James, who is transgender, was notified of the post her co-star published. "I am aware of a transphobic post shared by a fellow General Hospital actor," James wrote on Sunday. "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." Grahn later retweeted James to show her support and confirmed that Rademacher is "mercifully no longer a part" of the General Hospital cast. "Transphobia & misgendering are disgusting & should be unacceptable in any industry, including soaps/acting," Grahn added.

On Monday, The Wrap confirmed Rademacher was no longer part of the cast, although it is not clear when exactly he was fired. His already-filmed appearances will still air. Rademacher has repeatedly protested vaccine mandates on social media. He posted another message on Sunday, declaring he would "stand with you to fight for medical freedom."

Rademacher posted a three-minute video on Monday, in which he said he would discuss his departure from General Hospital at a later date. Instead, he apologized for sharing the transphobic tweet, even while still using demeaning descriptions. He insisted that he shared Stuckley's post to point out the "hypocrisy of the Left Wing media" and he should have crossed out the word "dude." However, he agreed with the tweet's sentiment. "I don't think it's okay to call a transgender an empowered woman because where does that leave women?" he said.

Later, Rademacher apologized directly to James, who joined General Hospital in 2018. "Cassandra, I apologize to you sincerely. I think you're an absolute talent and you're very beautiful as well. I don't think a transphobic man would say that. I think you're absolutely gorgeous, I really do," the actor said. Rademacher also said he and his wife allowed their son to wear a Disney princess dress when he was a toddler, adding, "I don't think a transphobic dad would buy his son a Disney princess dress."

Rademacher's objections to the vaccine mandate came to light in August when co-star Steve Burton tested positive for COVID-19 and said he contracted the virus during production, reports Deadline. Grahn also asked SAG-AFTRA to address issues of working "on a set with unmasked, unvaccinated actors." #FireIngo later began trending, so Rademacher called people "morons" and "horrible, horrible" for demanding he is fired.

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