Hartley Sawyer, the actor who plays the Elongated Man on CW’s The Flash, is fired from the role after his past racist and misogynistic tweets resurfaced on social media.

The official statement on his firing is below:

“Hartley Sawyer will not be returning for season seven of The Flash. In regards to Mr. Sawyer’s posts on social media, we do not tolerate derogatory remarks that target any race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, or sexual orientation. Such remarks are antithetical to our values and policies, which strive and evolve to promote a safe, inclusive, and productive environment for our workforce.”

The tweets (which you can read here; trigger warning) were posted before he was cast in the superhero show; basically just before The Flash went to Season 4. Still, Sawyer issued an apology via his Instagram.

“My words, irrelevant of being meant with an intent of humor, were hurtful, and unacceptable,” Sawyer wrote. “I am ashamed I was capable of these really horrible attempts to get attention at that time. I regret them deeply. This was not acceptable behavior. These were words I threw out at the time with no thought or recognition of the harm my words could do, and now have done today.”

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It’s a shame this happened because, in the current season, The Elongated Man’s most recent storyline has him finally meeting his comics detective counterpart Sue Dearbon, who would end up being his wife. Still, it’s pretty bad timing as the world is all kinds of messed up right now.