Former “General Hospital” star Ingo Rademacher posted a three-minute video on Monday addressing backlash to a transphobic post the actor reshared on his Instagram over the weekend.
But the actor, who recently left the ABC soap after raising public objections to COVID vaccine mandates, used demeaning descriptions of a trans woman as “a transgender” and said it’s not “OK to call a transgender an empowered woman because where does that leave women?”
Despite those statements, Rademacher insisted that he’s not transphobic and apologized for his previous post to Cassandra James, a trans woman who co-starred on “General Hospital.”
He apologized for not crossing out the word “dude” in a tweet authored by a conservative commentator about Rachel Levine. Dr. Levine is the U.S. assistant secretary for for health and the first openly trans four-star officer to serve in any of the nation’s eight uniformed serivces.
Allie Beth Stuckey’s original tweet sneered at the notion that Levine could be considered an empowered woman while Winsome Sears, Virginia’s newly-elected lieutenant governor who is the first Black woman to fill the position, could be called a “White supremacist.”
In the video, Rademacher defended the tweet’s “comparison” of Levine and Sears as “just pointing out the hypocrisy of the left wing media.”
The actor then turned his attention to James, who plays Terry on “General Hospital.” On Sunday, she publicly responded to Rademacher’s reposted tweet in a thread that read: “I am 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.”
“Misgendering trans folks is violence and if you come for one of us, you come for all of us,” she continued. “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.”
Addressing James, Rademacher says, “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.”
Earlier Monday, TheWrap reported Rademacher has exited “General Hospital” after an actress on the show, Nancy Lee Grahn, tweeted that Rademacher “is mercifully no longer a part of the #gh cast.”
“Transphobia & misgendering are disgusting & should be unacceptable in any industry, including soaps/acting,” said Grahn’s tweet, which quote-tweeted James’ thread. “I stand with my costar, @cassandrajames_, & the trans community.”
Rademacher’s departure marks the end of a 25-year run as Jasper “Jax” Jacks on the ABC soap opera. In addition to the tweet about Levine, he shared several anti-vaccine posts on his Instagram.
Most recently, he shared a photo emblazoned with the text, “I will stand with you to fight for medical freedom” with the hashtags #medicalfreedom #nomandates #woke #awakening #coersionisnotconsent.
Rademacher did not discuss his exit from “General Hospital” in the video but promised to comment shortly.
Jennifer Maas contributed to this report.
