Since Season 4, Hartley Sawyer has played Ralph Dibney, better known to DC Comics fans as the stretchy superhero Elongated Man, on The Flash. Sawyer initially recurred on the series, then was upgraded to a regular cast member for Season 5 and 6. But now Sawyer will not return for the show’s seventh season, after old tweets with racist and misogynist references and jokes from the actor came to light.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported on the news. Sawyer’s Twitter account has since been deleted, but the offensive tweets reportedly included one that read “The only thing keeping me from doing mildly racist tweets is the knowledge that Al Sharpton would never stop complaining about me.”

After news broke of Sawyer’s dismissal, The Flash executive producer Eric Wallace tweeted a statement about the news, saying the tweets “broke my heart and made me mad as hell.”

Sawyer has also posted an apology on his Instagram saying that his words “irrelevant of being meant with an intent of humor, were hurtful, and unacceptable and that he “[regrets] them deeply.”

Sawyer’s firing is the latest shakeup in the Arrowverse, and comes just weeks after Ruby Rose announced she was leaving the lead role of Batwoman after one season. Producers have said they will recast the show with a totally new protagonist.

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