Ingo Rademacher, a star of ABC's General Hospital since joining the show in 1996 as Jasper "Jax" Jacks, has been slammed by castmates for posting a transphobic social-media message, Deadline noted.
Rademacher had previously been known for his anti-vaccine stance as well.
The actor reposted a tweet on his Instagram account calling Rachel Levine, the U.S. assistant secretary for health, a "dude." The Biden-appointed U.S. assistant secretary for health was recently sworn in as the first transgender four-star officer.
Two of Rademacher's General Hospital castmates—trans actor Cassandra James and longtime GH star Nancy Lee Grahn—blasted Rademacher for the post.
"I am aware of a transphobic post shared by a fellow General Hospital actor," tweeted James, who plays Dr. Terry Randolph on the soap. "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 stated, "The fellow actor, #IngoRademacher, is mercifully no longer a part of the #gh cast. Transphobia & misgendering are disgusting & should be unacceptable in any industry, including soaps/acting." A separate Deadline article confirmed that Rademacher's final appearance on the soap will air Nov. 22.
UPDATE: Rademacher has now said he retweeted the image to point out the "hypocrisy of the left-wing media," but that he should have crossed out the word "dude" from the original post, adding, "I don't think its okay to call a transgender an empowered woman because where does that leave women?" He also apologized to James, saying, "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."
