The CW recently fired The Flash star Hartley Sawyer due to racist and misogynistic tweets, leading to fans also accusing his co-star Danielle Panabaker of racism over her attitude towards Candice Patton. Now, it seems that Arrow‘s Stephen Amell is also coming under fire for some of his controversial comments about the George Floyd protests.
The story of the Green Arrow and his crusade in Star City may have come to an end, but Amell has managed to keep busy since donning the hood for the last time in January. In his latest episode of the “How’d You Do It?” podcast, where the actor and Nocking Point winery co-founder Andrew Harding host a “leader, entrepreneur, educator, activist, politician, actor, writer, elite specialist, doctor, or athlete” and ask them to get into the specifics of how they accomplished what they’re known for, Amell decided to address the Black Lives Matter protests instead, which prompted a lot of rage on social media.
Fans had issues with several points brought up by Amell, including an instance where he admitted racism is a systematic problem, but he hasn’t personally seen it in action.
“Racism is a systemic problem, but I’m not as familiar with it just because I haven’t seen it in action, personally. Obviously, I see the video of George Floyd being murdered by white police officers, I remember the Trayvon Martin case, and all the things that have been happening,” He said. “Although most of that, for me personally, has been overshadowed by gun violence. That’s the big thing that’s difficult for me to wrap my head around, moving to the States, simply because that doesn’t happen in Canada. At all. Ever.”
As you’d imagine, a lot of people took offense at Amell’s absolute remarks. One of his prominent accusers was comics author Tee Franklin, who called the Green Arrow actor out by writing:
“F**k @StephenAmell he’s been showing us his racist ass ways for quite awhile now. AND his wife. Also Grant Gustin ain’t absolved, cuz he DEFINITELY didn’t support & speak out for Candice.”
This garnered a response from Amell, who tweeted the following and asked the writer to educate him on the matter:
“You totally nailed me. Hope that makes you feel better. I just followed you… so if you need something or you want to help me better understand, hit me up and we can chat!”
Meanwhile, a lot of other fans chimed in as well, as seen below:
Stephen Amell ain't been shit fot years. He's a racist mysoginitic douche and the CW protected him. Let his moment of reckoning finally come, too. https://t.co/ZFSxVnA9y1
— Carolyn Hinds 🇧🇧 #FreePalestine #EyesOnCongo (@CarrieCnh12) June 2, 2020
a couple of you unfollowed me after my tweet this morning
so im gonna say it again
stephen amell is a racist. selfish. fucking. asshole.
if you dont like that, then bye 👋
— 𝕝𝕖𝕩𝕚 ✨🧬 (@lexiblackbriar) June 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/VivanteFemme/status/1268244013745934337
if Stephen amell didn't learn anything about racism working 8 years with a black person by his side, it won't be in just one day that he will learn, especially if he doesn't want to, after all he never saw racism happen, he knows a lot of good cops,
— 𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 (@smoakxdoe) June 3, 2020
Circling back to Franklin though, and he went on a pretty lengthy rant and continued to accuse Amell, but the Arrow star decided against escalating things any further.
The podcast, released on June 1st, was initially supposed to feature Grant Gustin, but the Scarlet Speedster decided that with all that’s going on, it’d be insensitive of him to talk about his personal life and success.
