UPDATE with Final Airdate: Soap Opera Network has learned that Ingo Rademacher is no longer part of the “General Hospital” cast and will last air as Jasper “Jax” Jacks on Monday, November 22. He last taped at the soap at an unspecified time.
PREVIOUS: On Sunday, November 7, soap opera actor Ingo Rademacher (Jasper “Jax” Jacks, “General Hospital”) created a social media firestorm when he posted several messages to his Instagram stories that included postings about an upcoming nationwide protest against federal/state vaccine mandates, censorship by big tech companies, and even sharing a video of an allegedly vaccinated individual claiming vaccine injury following receipt of the vaccine, among other messages. However, it was his sharing a screenshot of a post from Twitter that led to his “GH” co-star Cassandra James (Terry Randolph) to call out the actor, even if not by name, for his “transphobic post.
“I am aware of a transphobic post shared by a fellow ‘General Hospital’ actor,” said James of the post being discussed across Instagram, Twitter and other platforms. “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 added to their post, saying, “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.”
Co-star Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis) responded to James’ post, saying, “The fellow actor, #IngoRademacher, is mercifully no longer a part of the #gh cast.” She added, “Transphobia & misgendering are disgusting & should be unacceptable in any industry, including soaps/acting. I stand with my costar, @cassandrajames_, & the trans community.”
Grahn recently revealed that a vaccine mandate had gone into effect at “GH” as of November 1, 2021, which Rademacher allegedly did not comply with considering his public stance on vaccine mandates. Her post marks the first time anyone connected to “GH,” ABC or Disney have commented publicly on Rademacher’s status with the soap opera following last week’s rumor mill that the actor along with another big name star among the show’s cast were allegedly let go due to not complying with the vaccine mandate.
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In the post shared by Rademacher on his Instagram story was a screenshot of a post from Twitter by user @conservemillen which said, “Welcome to ClownTown, where the dude on the left is an empowering woman, and the woman on the right is a white supremacist.” The picture on the left was that of Assistant Secretary of Health, Rachel Levine, a transgender female who was sworn in last week as a four-star admiral. The picture on the right showed Virginia Lieutenant Governor-Elect Winsome Sears, a black woman, who is seen brandishing a weapon in her hands as part of campaign paraphernalia.
Rademacher has been very vocal on social media in recent months about his being against a vaccine mandate which led to a writeup on Deadline (“Covid Controversy Checks In To ABC’s ‘General Hospital’ When Cast Clash Over Vax Mandate”), an entertainment trade whose reporting later got the attention of several industry heavyweights, particularly “Law & Order: SVU” showrunner Warren Leight, who said on August 28 in response to the Deadline article, “No actors or crew should have to work with unmasked, unvaccinated actors. Period.”
A few days after posting, Leight responded to a tweet by a Twitter user who uses the hashtag #MAGA on their Twitter profile, and said of Rademacher, “He has a right not to get vaccinated. Our cast and crew have a right not to work alongside people more likely to get and transmit Covid.”
Following word that a vaccine mandate was put in place at “GH,” a Twitter user responded to Grahn’s tweet last week based on rumors of some of the show’s talent being anti-vaccine, Grahn stated, “It is not my place to expound on that. It is there’s. Ask them.”