Aussie actor Ingo Rademacher has left General Hospital over transphobic meme while refusing to comply with vaccine mandate
Aussie actor Ingo Rademacher has left long-running US soap opera General Hospital because he declined to comply with the production's vaccine mandate.
News of his departure comes amid backlash to a transphobic meme and anti-vax sentiment he posted on social media Sunday. Rademacher has played the character Jasper 'Jax' Jacks on the daytime medical drama since 1996 and has been a regular on the show for 25 of its 59 seasons.
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Ingo Rademacher has appeared in Aussie soaps Echo Point and Paradise Beach before moving to the US in the '90s. Getty
The anti-trans meme shared by Rademacher on his Instagram account was a photo of recently elected Virginia lieutenant governor Winsome Sears — the first Black woman to hold the post — and Dr Rachel Levine, a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
The image's caption was: "Hello, and welcome to ClownTown, where the dude on the left is an empowering woman, and the woman on the right is a white supremacist."
It had originally been posted by a conservative commentator.
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Ingo Rademacher shared this Instagram Story over the weekend. Instagram
Rademacher also shared an anti-vaxxer message on Instagram on Sunday. It stated that he would "stand with you to fight for medical freedom."
Before this incident, the actor had been outspoken on his social platforms about his opposition to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and had subsequently come under heat for his views.
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Ingo Rademacher has starred on General Hospital since 1996. Getty
On Monday, Rademacher posted a video of himself on Instagram apologising for not "crossing out dude" in the meme and that his intention was to highlight the "hypocrisy of the left-wing media." Watch the video above.
He also directly apologised to Cassandra James, a transgender woman and his General Hospital co-star, calling her an "absolute talent" and "very beautiful".
James had previously reacted to the transphobic post on Twitter, expressing her disappointment with Rademacher.
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