Did the giant streamer set a bad precedent by giving in to unsubstantiated accusations and relentless online haters? Percy’s mum Sherry White – along with family, friends and fans – chime in.
Percy Hynes White in character, for an upcoming untitled Canadian movie that filmed in late 2024
In late 2023, when Canadian actor Percy Hynes White was still unaware that he had been dropped from his Netflix show Wednesday, the series’ executive producer and showrunner Miles Millar liked a comment from Instagram user “thequarrylol” that read, “hopefully a certain someone with terrible allegations is not in season 2…”
That seemingly unprofessional and insensitive move from Millar sent the message not only to Hynes White and his family, but also to the show’s audience and fans that the actor was not going to be back for Season 2 of the show.
It was not a total surprise. Something of the sort had been in the air since allegations of sexual misconduct against the actor had surfaced in January 2023. Netflix and the show’s executive producers never bothered to give an official reason for dumping Hynes White. So naturally, the allegations became the convenient explanation.
Hynes White on set of an upcoming untitled Canadian movie, shot in late 2024
All the major entertainment trades that eventually carried the story about his removal from the series mentioned the accusations against him. People, Entertainment Weekly, Variety, Us Weekly and Deadline amongst many others have addressed both the failure to renew his option and the allegations of sexual misconduct.
And Netflix’s silence isn’t helping.
Attempts to contact Millar and Netflix proved futile. However, according to Percy’s mum Sherry White, “He [Percy] was told by [Netflix’s] Business Affairs [department] that his option would not be renewed, and the story was going in a different direction.”
Sherry White added, “It was clear early on that they were distancing the show from Percy. Not inviting him to things, not using his photo in merch, etc. Meanwhile they waited until the last minute to release him.”
Percy’s closest friend Jaden [not his real name] told me that Percy was filming a movie, Whistle, in Toronto in December 2023, at the time he was officially told by his manager that his contract wasn’t being picked up.
Did Netflix Believe the Allegations Against Percy Hynes White?
Some background:
It all started to go pear-shaped for Hynes White with sexual allegations from Twitter (now X) user “Aries” (@milkievich) in January 2023. The actor said, in a statement he released in June 2023, that he’d never met “Aries.”
But then Desiree and Karis, ex-classmates of the actor’s at City School in Toronto, added unsubstantiated accusations of their own.
Did Netflix talk to any of these accusers?
Sherry White clarified the Whites’ side of things. “Of course we hired lawyers in the beginning, of course we looked into this and were able to give Netflix an assessment,” she said, “and I’m sure Netflix did their own digging. If there was anything, they would have come out with a statement right away.”
She went on, “Anyone with a brain who looked into these online ‘accusations’ could see that there wasn’t anything legitimate here. Aries was caught in her lies. She was the only one who actually ‘accused’ him of assault, then backtracked it by saying he put his hands on her hips and said something crude – when in reality he’s never met her. That’s a fact. At some point someone asked her what neighborhood he lived in, and she gave an entirely different neighborhood.”
As for Desiree and Karis, the actor’s mother explained, “The two people who actually knew him [from high school] backed up their vague support of Aries’ accusations with texts that actually demonstrated they were entirely mad at him for other things. Desiree claims to have been assaulted by my basement apartment tenant, after Percy moved out of our family home, and Karis was mad that he cheated on her when they were 15 and dated briefly. Everyone else that jumped on the bandwagon did so with vagaries and hearsay, [claiming there was] guilt by association, and outright lies.”
So did these accusations, which were at the very least questionable, become grounds for an actor’s otherwise unexplained expulsion?
Hynes White’s Silence
A common question asked is why Hynes White waited six months after the accusations surfaced in January 2023 to put out a statement.
Sherry White explained that. “The advice we were given was to stay silent. If Percy responded, it would automatically become a bigger story. Honestly, we thought it would go away because there was nothing to it, it just seemed like high school rumors and drama. There was nobody actually accusing him of anything legitimate.”
When he did finally issue a statement in June 2023, many media professionals I spoke to felt his words were too vague and didn’t address the necessary areas of concern.
His mother recounted, “After six months, it was still going strong on Twitter [now X], and as other people who tried to stand by him were getting increasingly harassed, it was becoming difficult to not at least give them a statement to point to, so we decided he should speak to it. He did, and of course as predicted, it became a bigger story. We now realize that nothing he says would ever be satisfying to the people who have been clearly incapable of comprehending the truth here.”
A Cruel Cabal of Cancelers and Cyberbullies
Those who have been the most vocal and the most visible online – and perhaps the most influential in his dismissal – have been people who could be described as haters and bullies. Relentless and unreasonable, they often point to innocuous past tweets of the actor’s whilst claiming his comments and likes are more nefarious than they actually appear to the common person’s eye. They believe the sexual assault allegations are true, despite Hynes White’s claim never to have met the one and only potentially credible victim. No one else has come forth with further direct accusations.
Each time his new project is announced or promoted, these haters/cancellers/bullies spam Hynes White’s producers, directors, and castmates with unproven accusations,.
Case in point: I posted a question on X asking if anyone wanted to talk to me about Percy for this article, and within 10 minutes a hater called “holdingabsence” came on to spew insults at me and degrade my writing. Another user named “Enough” had the gall to send me a message asking not to quote her public anti-Percy words and her offensive personal comments directed at me. I told her that’s not how journalism works.
Yet another cyberbully, named “Stop Covering Up Abusers,” seems to have their sights set on ruining Percy Hynes White rather than anyone who has actually been found guilty of rapє or assault. They, like the other haters and cancelers, continue accusing the actor of misconduct without any real evidence.
Recently another X user, “Indiana Old is Ready for Sonic 3,” boldly posted, “I want so many bad things to happen to these people” alongside an image of Diddy, Donald Trump, Jack Doherty – and Percy Hynes White. When someone didn’t recognize Percy, “Indiana Old” replied, “[He] sexually assaulted several people, including one of my friends.” I reached out via private message to ask “Indiana Old” to put me in touch with the friend whom they say was assaulted by Percy.
“Indiana Old” blocked me within minutes.
A search revealed that “Indiana Old” follows “Aries” on Twitter.
“Aries” remains the only direct accuser who isn’t nameless and invisible. I have reached out to her a bunch of times to get her side of things but she has never responded.
“Aries” also has yet to show any proof that she knows Hynes White, has been to his house parties, or even knows where his house was located in Toronto – the location of his supposed assault on her.
Still the cyberbullies and cancelers cling to the accuser’s unsubstantiated stories, whilst swarming social media with the allegations.
Did the Online Hate Campaign Influence Netflix?
The unrelenting harmful chatter on the social media platforms of anybody even vaguely associated with Percy Hynes White would be enough to drive anyone mad.
Perhaps that’s why none of Wednesday’s producers, directors or cast has dared to speak up for the actor, not even lead Jenna Ortega, whom my sources confidently tell me had more than just a friendship with Hynes White.
Hence, one can’t help but wonder whether all the negativity and nonsensical commotion created by these anti-Percy cyberbullies is the real reason Netflix decided to let him go. Maybe it was just easier to dump him than to stick up for him and be torn down by the cyberbullies’ badgering and harassment, which in turn might have an adverse effect on viewership.
Ex-Girlfriend, Close Friends Say Accusations Are All Lies
As a sign of how destructive and detrimental these cancelers can be, even the actor’s close friends and an ex-girlfriend agreed to talk to me only under a promise of anonymity. Hence, I have used pseudonyms.
Cori (not real name) dated Hynes White for about a year beginning in March 2018. Both were students at City School in Toronto. Cori remains close friends with him. Cori was also friends with accusers Desiree and Karis, who also went to the same high school. Cori and Desiree had known each other since middle school.
Cori is no longer friends with the two. “I don’t think their allegations were actual allegations against Percy,” she explained. “Karis was hurt and Desiree was accusing somebody else entirely. They left it open to interpretation, which is what feels a little manipulative.”
When asked why they’d do that to him, Cori said, “I can’t speak for other people but I do know jealousy and hurt feelings can muster up over time.”
Cori stressed that she never believed the allegations. “I can’t speak for other people’s experience with him when I wasn’t there, but I know him, I’ve seen his true character.”
Of her experience dating him, Cori had this to say:
“When we dated it was difficult at times, [we were] both very young and both pretty emotionally unavailable but still had a deep care for each other. Even though [the relationship was] challenging, in all my encounters with him I never experienced any abuse, assault or [anything like that]. Our relationship now as friends, knowing each other for six, years is wonderful and always kind.”
Jaden (not his real name) is one of Hynes White’s closest friends despite the two having only met in 2018, via a mutual friend. Jaden told me that the actor was in London when news of the allegations broke. What ensued was just chaos, as the actor and his team tried to make sense of the sudden unsubstantiated accusations.
Jaden also told me that his friend is incredibly kind-hearted and has looked out for Jaden more than anyone else in his life. I was also told that Jaden and Percy “know each other better than anyone else on this planet.” Jaden emphasized to me, “I know the dude so so so well. I couldn’t believe some of the lengths taken when it came to just smearing his name.” Jaden added, “I wouldn’t get close to someone who is the bad guy that is being portrayed.”
The Truth About Aries and the “Assault Parties”
“Aries” claimed that Hynes White provided drugs and then assaulted unsuspecting girls at parties in his home. Jaden says he’s been to those parties and it’s “nothing like crazy sex parties where he [Percy] drugs everyone. Nothing like that!” Jaden asserted that Percy had never met Aries, much less assaulted her.
Another close friend of Percy’s, Walker [not their real name], supports Jaden’s assertion and says that Aries was a complete stranger to them, that they never met or knew her.
Walker, like everyone else I spoke to who knew Hynes White in Toronto, told me that “Aries” was not someone known to him and that her entire claim was fiction.
As for the parties, Walker said Percy threw high school parties typical in Toronto, with underaged drinking and maybe some weed usage, but nothing more sinister than that.
Desiree and the Alleged rapє
Walker was around in 2020 when Desiree texted Hynes White that she had been rapєd by Raphael, a tenant in Sherry White’s basement apartment. Percy was not living there at the time of this alleged rapє, according to both Walker and Sherry. The text exchange with Percy ended with Desiree saying she had witnesses and would talk to them. Walker said that Percy never heard from Desiree again.
Desiree never went to the police, and never reported her alleged rapє. She never even approached the actor again about the matter. “He can’t go to the police for her, right?” Walker said. “That’s something she would have to do.”
Then in January of 2023, two and a half years after her alleged rapє and text, Desiree suddenly claimed Hynes White “let her get rapєd” despite being nowhere near the location of the supposed crime. It seems to have been a malicious attempt to defame the actor.
Karis and “Whatever That Was”
Karis, the other accuser, provided a screenshot with messages about being hurt by how he lied and pretended their relationship was more than it was. Nothing in the screenshot showed any evidence of rapє or assault. It only showed Percy acknowledging and apologizing for treating her poorly. But Karis made this screenshot public, apparently in an attempt to cast Percy in a bad light.
According to Walker, “It was just classic high school drama, figuring out how to talk to girls and whatnot. He, I guess, was leading her on, making her think that he wanted a relationship or something, [but] he was seeing other people.”
Walker said that Karis hasn’t seen or spoken to Percy in about five years. Walker also told me that Karis is obsessed with celebrities and when Hynes White became known for his role in The Gifted but refused to have a proper relationship with Karis, she was set to ruin his life to the extent of threatening to call the Fox Network to get him fired.
Like Cori, Walker thinks that Karis got extremely jealous when Hynes White became even more famous when he was cast in Netflix’s Wednesday, which is still the most watched English show on the popular streaming service.
Family Speaks
Director-producer Ruth Lawrence from St. John, Newfoundland, Canada is Percy’s godmother (in a secular sense, although she tells me Percy was baptized Catholic). She had this to say: “The person being described in any of the posts I’ve seen bears no resemblance to the Percy that I know. I didn’t seek out the posts but they were unavoidable at times. And it was heartbreaking to see how the work he had done to that point, over many years, could be torn down, he could be humiliated and harassed by anonymous, gutless, and ruthless online personalities.”
Percy Hynes White with his “Godma” Ruth Lawrence, in 2023
Lawrence went on, “It also shocked me how quickly people were to believe the worse about someone, for entertainment…I can’t imagine how that can happen. They tried to destroy him, his reputation, and disrupt his relationships with work, family and friends. I was deeply disappointed to have witnessed it. I’m relieved to say that they did not succeed. When we see each other now, I see a grounded, respectful, and loving human, and for that I’m grateful.”
Fans Speak Out
I spoke to a few fans who have been longtime followers of the actor, some having met him in person at recent Comic Cons in Stuttgart, Germany and Astana, Kazakhstan. Interestingly none of the fans wanted me to use their full names either, lest Hynes White’s relentless mob of haters and cancelers come after them too.
Image supplied by fans who met Hynes White at Comic Con Astana
Nina, a fan who saw him at Comic Con Astana in late July, said, “I watched how the situation with the accusations developed from the first day and it was initially clear to me that this was a planned hate attack that had no basis. I am against injustice and against bullying.”
Rita, another fan who was at Astana, told me, “I read all the ‘accusations’ and have seen nothing substantial. The dates, stories and ‘crimes’ were changing and in the end nobody even accused him of anything officially. I don’t believe in second- or even third-hand anonymous justice.”
Image supplied by fans who met Hynes White at Comic Con Astana
Fan Dani summarized perfectly why she and likeminded fans still defend the actor to this day. “To be quite honest, when I read the tweets & screenshots that his main accusers provided as ‘proof’ of his guilt; I saw too many inconsistencies & holes in their stories.”
Fans on Netflix Dropping Percy Hynes White from Wednesday
While they might have asked me to use initials or only first names out of fear, these defenders spoke their minds about Netflix.
Oscar from Sweden happened to run into Hynes White on a trip to Los Angeles in December 2023. The actor was dining with friends at McDonald’s, and took the time to hug his fan and even asked Oscar to join their table. Oscar told me he “think[s] he was removed because Netflix did give in to the haters who wanted him out.”
A fan who met the actor at the Astana Comic Con told me, “I think it is important to note first and foremost that this sets a very bad precedent for Netflix as a whole: Does this mean that any actor or actress can be removed from a project based on a few baseless accusations that have gained attention? And if such a decision is made, why don’t they inform the viewers?”
Image supplied by fans who met Hynes White at Comic Con Astana
Fan Nina opined that “Netflix removed him from the series because the showrunners and cast are cowards. Instead of supporting him and helping him quickly solve the problem as soon as it appeared, they became scared like little children and chose the failed path of least resistance.”
Fan Rita felt this way: “Firstly, it’s unfair, because Percy is [the] victim here. Second, that’s a really bad precedent for Netflix as this could lead to other slander campaigns and problems with show productions. And third, I feel that the mature way Percy is reacting to the news and posts by the Wednesday team in contrast to the childish way they reacted [e.g. liking haters’ comments, unfollowing him, etc.] is showing that he’s a better person and a real professional in [the] industry.”
Image supplied by fans who met Hynes White at Comic Con Astana
Maria from Lithuania met the actor at Comic Cons in Stuttgart and Astana. She said, “I guess it is [the] cowardice of Netflix, especially showrunners Gough and Millar, who are afraid of [the] insane amount of hate he got. Also [it’s the] cowardice of [the] main cast members, who did not say a word about all this, following [the] position of Netflix. This common silence for a year made his return impossible and led to his removal.”
Maria continued, “I feel angry and happy. Why angry? Percy is absolutely not powerful and rich to sue everyone or to persuade haters [of] his innocence, but such a big corporation like Netflix could do much even with just words. They did nothing. Silent removal. Cowards! Why happy? Percy deserves more than [a] teenage series with questionable writing. [I’m] looking forward to his new projects.”
Other Theories
Not one canceler or cyberhater agreed to talk to me on the record. Some have suggested on social media that the actor’s contract was not renewed because of his past actions, be it his questionable past tweets or his past hurtful dealings with girls.
Some of his social media activity did bring about an unpleasant reaction even amongst his fans. His mother Sherry has since said that Percy has taken ownership and responsibility of some of his tweets that he agrees he shouldn’t have made. But Jaden, for one, doesn’t “believe for a second that any of those tweets came from a place of malice or came from a place of hate. He just had something funny or stupid pop into his mind, and he’d post it.”
Jaden continued, “Certain things were said on Twitter because it was just so audacious, like it was the last thing that Percy would actually believe…I don’t think he ever went on Twitter and thought ‘I’m going to share what I truly feel’..He used Twitter as a way to laugh.” Jaden said that his friend wishes he had been smarter about how he handled his previous Twitter account, but he never expected the spotlight to shine on the account.
Hynes White’s haters and cancelers had latched onto past tweets of his as evidence that he was racist, sexist, “a Nazi.” But it’s important to understand the context of tweets made within a close community of friends and family in order to understand their meaning.
Walker points to one example. He, Hynes White and other friends were discussing overused memes in 2020. The actor posted a picture of Toronto rapper Drake. Another friend posted a picture of an ape. There was never any correlation between the two, except for the images being popular as memes. But three years later the actor’s haters saw the images and presumed they were related in an insulting racist way, then went on a crusade claiming Percy Hynes White was a racist.
Image supplied by fans who met Hynes White at Comic Con Astana
As for the actor’s having broken some hearts, a fan called Jes chimed in: “I get that Percy maybe has no values or morals, and had sex indiscriminately in his teen years. He said in a confessional message to Karis that he lied to her, used her for sex, and then summarily ghosted or dumped her. Basically, Percy is the type of boy all mothers warn their daughters about! He’s probably a walking red flag of infidelity. But, who’s asking Netflix or the Showrunners to marry off their daughters to him?!”
Jes continued, “He’s an actor. All I ask out of actors is to act well and Percy is extremely gifted in that area. Netflix has made a bad decision in dropping him over his past teenage behavior if that’s indeed the reason. They lost an exceptionally talented actor who effortlessly seems so natural on screen and just draws you into believing his characters actually exist. Nobody on that Wednesday cast, not even the main lead Jenna Ortega, can match Percy’s superb skill in acting.”
Looking the Other Way
What stood out to me after all my interviewing was this a very vivid picture of Hynes White at Fashion Week in Milan and Paris with Wednesday castmates Jenna Ortega and Georgie Farmer. It was January 2023, just a few days before the allegations from “Aries” surfaced. Several directors that the actor admired were approaching his representatives about working with him. He “was a top prospect for becoming a huge huge actor,” I was told – he seemed to be well placed to be the next big thing in Hollywood.
Then a person he’s never met and doesn’t even know came on Twitter with what appears to be a fantasy-filled fable.
And two ex-classmates decided to join in and turn their histories with the actor into instances of assault and rapє, when one of them was allegedly rapєd by someone else on whom she never pressed charges, and the other was hurt that Hynes White had led her on in high school.
And it all came crashing down for him.
Then the cyberbullies and cancelers dug up his old tweets, formed nonsensical impressions from out-of-context posts and photos, and accused him of being all sorts of things his family and friends swear he’s not.
And so he is canceled.
In today’s world the powerful look the other way and ignore the actual victim. Examples abound: famous and influential people around Sean “Diddy” Combs ignoring his decades-long history of alleged violent abuse of women; Netflix claiming Baby Reindeer is a “true story” and defaming and ignoring Fiona Harvey, on whom the stalker-character was based, who says it was not.
(On September 27, 2024, a U.S. court ruled that Netflix was wrong in claiming Baby Reindeer was a true account, and is allowing Fiona Harvey to sue the negligent streamer.)
Likewise with Percy Hynes White. The mega-powerful Netflix just dropped him as an easy move. They looked the other way and ignored the evidence that he was actually being victimized vengeful accusers and a bunch of cyberbullies determined to paint him in a bad way. Instead of doing what was right and standing up for him by continuing with him in Season 2 of Wednesday, Netflix decided to simply get rid of him.
Sources told me that Jenna Ortega, Georgie Farmer, and the rest of the main cast have pulled away from him too. Fans told me that Ortega has pulled her name out of the executive producer credits of Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall, the movie she shot and shares with Hynes White, her on-screen and previously off-screen romantic leading man. A check with the production company’s website proves this to be true as Ortega is no longer listed as an executive producer. Observant fans also noted that Ortega never discussed or promoted the movie, perhaps in order to detach and distance herself from her co-star.
Percy’s mum Sherry mentioned to me that Tiffany Paulsen, who directed Percy and Ortega in Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall, had nice things to say to the press about her time working with Percy. She’s the only co-worker who has bothered to talk about him. Nobody else within the industry has stood up or spoken up for Percy.
Images supplied by Sherry White. From left: Sherry, Sherry with her pets, and with Percy’s godmother Lawrence
Sherry revealed, “I am disappointed and shocked by the lack of adults or rational voices who would dare to speak to this publicly. There are some people who’ve been extraordinarily kind and compassionate and brave in standing by Percy through this, but the amount of cowardice is mind-blowing. This canceling effort went on far too long, it was way out of hand and not in line with anything he actually did.”
Final Thoughts
Sherry White had this to say in conclusion: “In the end I’m glad he’s not back on Wednesday. Percy is an artist, he will continue to work, and I do hope he maintains the many wonderful fans who’ve been incredible supporters through all of this. But being a celebrity is different than being a film artist. Celebrity is fleeting. I would like to see him continue to be a film artist, and I hope his fanbase continues to grow among a grounded and mature audience.”
Interestingly, nobody I spoke to – from Hynes White’s family to friends to fans – believes the official reason given to him by Netflix for his departure from the show, which was that the storyline was going another way and his character Xavier Thorpe was no longer needed. It is indeed hard to believe that a character cannot be tweaked and twisted in the hands of capable writers and reshaped to fit into any type of narrative and plot.
Jaden too doesn’t believe that Netflix suddenly didn’t want his friend’s character on the second season of the show. Jaden believes his friend was let go because Netflix saw him as a brand risk.
Walker added, “It’s extremely unfair. They had no right to [drop him] when there’s no proof of anything. There’s not much more I can say. It’s just a stupid situation.”
Those who feel outraged by Netflix’s handling of Percy Hynes White might consider ignoring Season 2 of Wednesday altogether. Some of his fans and fans of his character declared to me that that is exactly what they will be doing.
Percy Hynes White with his Godma Ruth Lawrence in 2019
Meanwhile, his godmother Ruth Lawrence will be doing more than merely boycotting Wednesday Season 2. Lawrence said that his removal from the Netflix series “compounds all the damage that was done [by the accusers and cyberhaters]. I work in this industry and I know how vulnerable all people are but that doesn’t make a decision like [Netflix’s] feel just in any way. It’s important to stand up for those we love and believe in. It’s also important to stand up for what is right, no matter your personal opinions.”
Lawrence divulged further, “I did that by standing with Percy and his family. And I cancelled my Netflix subscription.”
