The drama surrounding Ingo Rademacher and ABC has taken a new turn. The General Hospital alum has made new accusations against ABC in their ongoing legal battle. Ingo used to portray the character of Jax on the famous Daytime sudsder. Ingo was quite popular as Jax on the soap until ABC fired him amidst the COVID-19-related protocols. The said protocol demanded the cast and the crew to be vaccinated to be allowed on the sets due to safety concers.
However, actor Ingo Rademacher decided against the vaccine due to his religious beliefs. The General Hospital actor even applied for an exemption on religious grounds. But the production declined his application. Instead, they fired him from the soap. Ingo then decided to take legal action against ABC for firing him. Previously, ABC made an appeal to the court to dismiss the case on the grounds that they had already decided to write off Ingo’s character on the soap much before the COVID debacle and were not going to renew his contract.
Ingo Rademacher’s Latest Claims Against ABC & General Hospital Executive Producer
Now, the legal battle has taken a new twist. Ingo is now claiming that ABC actually fired him from General Hospital over his political views and every other claim is just a cover-up. According to Deadline, Ingo’s attorney has stated that ABC was supposed to accommodate Ingo as their duty. However, they threw him under the bus by putting him through a rigged process that was set up for failure. Furthermore, he added that all of ABC’s claims are a cover-up for the real reason behind Ingo’s firing, his political views.
Ingo alleged that General Hospital’s executive producer, Frank Valentini, and many others on the sets were against his voting preference for Donald Trump in the 2020 elections. His filings claim that the headhonchos of the ABC soap did not like Ingo’s stance regarding Donald Trump and the restrictive COVID policies. Furthermore, they claimed that due to the above reason the production decided to axe Ingo and recast the role. However, the problem was that Ingo was under contract till 2022. Moreover, he was one of the most famous actors of General Hospital.
Ingo being vocal about his stance against the vaccines had also earned him an ire on social media. A hashtag stating FireIngo had also started to trend online. The General Hospital alum claims that ABC used the COVID policies as an excuse to fire him rather than being honest with him. However, ABC claims that when Director of Employee Relations at Walt Disney Television, Erin Nguyen, questioned him regarding his application for a religious exemption, he stated, “There is no religion to join.” Thus, the network claims there were no real religious grounds for awarding him an exemption.
Can We Expect To See Igno On GH Again?
The battle between ABC and Ingo seems nowhere close to ending anytime soon. Thus, anyone holding their breaths for his return to General Hospital should let go. It’s highly unlikely this matter will get settled anytime soon. Interestingly, ABC had also let go actor Steve Burton for noncompliance of COVID policies. However, the actor had accepted it graciously and had also expressed him love and gratitude for the soap. Hence leaving the window for return open. Sadly, the same cannot be said for Ingo Rademacher at this point. Stay tuned to TV Season and Spoilers for more such updates about your favorite stars and soaps.