Ingo Rademacher Out at 'General Hospital', Addresses Costars Calling Him Out for Transphobic Post

The actor's last episode is scheduled to air on Nov. 22

By

Published on November 8, 2021 05:10 PM

Ingo Rademacher is out at General Hospital, PEOPLE can confirm.

The actor's last episode is scheduled to air on Nov. 22. He separated from the ABC soap because he declined to comply with the production's recent vaccine mandate.

The news of his exit comes after Rademacher, who played Jasper "Jax" Jacks on and off for 25 years, addressed backlash to a transphobic tweet he reposted on his Instagram Story over the weekend.

The tweet misgendered Rachel Levine, who is transgender and was recently sworn in as an admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, as a "dude" and mocked the notion that Levine could be considered an empowered woman. Two of Rademacher's costars — Cassandra James, who is transgender, and Nancy Lee Grahn — later blasted Rademacher, 50, for the post.

In a three-minute Instagram video posted Monday, Rademacher stood by the message of the tweet but said he should have crossed out the word "dude" from the original post, adding that he doesn't think "it's okay to call a transgender an empowered woman because where does that leave women?"

"I do apologize for not crossing out 'dude' and putting 'transgender,'" he said. "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."

As for his status on General Hospital, he said he would "comment on that later," adding, "I will get back in touch with everybody and fill you guys in on what's happening when I can."

He also addressed James directly in the video.

"Cassandra, I apologize to you as well, sincerely," he said. "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."

On Twitter Sunday, James began by stating that she was "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," she continued. "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."

Grahn, 65, responded to James' tweet with a message of support and said Rademacher was no longer part of the General Hospital cast.

"The fellow actor, #IngoRademacher, is mercifully no longer a part of the #gh cast," she wrote. "Transphobia & misgendering are disgusting & should be unacceptable in any industry, including soaps/acting. I stand with my costar, @cassandrajames_, & the trans community."

Rademacher has been vocal about his anti-vaccination beliefs. In August, when a group of General Hospital fans called for the actor to be fired from the series after he spoke about his vaccination stance, he responded by calling them "morons, dictators and horrible, horrible" people, Deadline reported.

Last month, Grahn confirmed that General Hospital had instated a vaccine mandate for all cast and crew members.

"I am very proud to work on the ONLY Daytime Soap that has required that all performers, staff and crew be vaccinated," the actress wrote.

Some viewers have continued to denounce Rademacher in light of the recent transphobic post.

"GH should have fired Ingo Rademacher a long time ago," one tweeted on Sunday. "But they let him spew his hate and ignored it. His character is not valuable to the show. Never has been. And if he were to leave today, not a single storyline would be affected. Not a one."