Editor’s note: This article contains potentially triggering content for some readers.

Percy Hynes White, a 21-year-old Canadian actor, has been accused of sexual assault and saying racial slurs on Twitter. Turns out White might not be the artistic heartthrob everyone thought he was. 

The star recently gained traction with his role as Xavier Thorpe in the hit Netflix horror comedy television series, “Wednesday.” “Wednesday” follows the story of Wednesday Addams, played by Jenna Ortega, who attends Nevermore Academy and tries to solve the mystery of a killing spree in town. 

Thorpe, White’s character, was primarily known for being a psychic student at Nevermore who became a friend of Addams and developed a crush on her. On the show, Thorpe was very outspoken about his distaste for Tyler Galpin, a “normie” (someone who is a normal human) character who had an onscreen romance with Wednesday Addams. 

White’s character also gained traction on all social media platforms with people debating if they were “team Tyler” or “team Xavier” in regard to their romance with Addams (personally, I am a “team Tyler” girl). As time progressed, the majority of people began to root for Thorpe and Addams to get together, with #xavierthorpe having over 2.6 billion videos on TikTok alone. 

On Jan. 18, a Twitter user by the name of @milkievich started a thread claiming that White and his high school friends drugged and assaulted her and her friends when he was 17 years old in Toronto, Canada. After the thread was started, multiple other women then came forward about their own experiences with White and his friends, which were then quoted in @milkievich’s thread. The thread has since been deleted but many users have started their own threads. 

The thread also includes women coming forward about parties White and his friends threw when they were between the ages of 17 to 20 while the victims were aged 13 to 17. It is alleged that these parties were thrown with the intent of getting girls drunk and/or high in order to take advantage of them. 

“Despite this situation coming about from Twitter, I think it’s still important that we recognize that we should believe and support victims of sexual assault and make sure their stories are heard and necessary action is taken,” said Kaelin Hughes, a junior history and political science double major. “It’s very hard when you enjoy something like ‘Wednesday’ or another piece of media, follow these actors, then information like this surfaces but it is important that we as consumers recognize the severity of this situation and hold people accountable for their actions.” 

Screenshots have also been included of White and his friends randomly putting minors in group chats on Instagram and sending them vulgar and inappropriate messages. The most popular messages floating around are nude pictures of White in bed and on the toilet. 

“I believe that it is super important to believe the accuser because it takes so much courage to confront your abuser,” said John Hannaway, a P2 pharmacy major. “So many cases of sexual assault do not get reported, so it is super important to support those who do find the courage and come forward.”

A TikTok video of White making racist claims and displaying racist behavior is also beginning to surface on social media platforms. The uncomfortable and shocking video is of White acting out violence against a person of color in a 1950s roleplay and includes White mouthing a racial slur. 

A video also went viral on TikTok where White “accidentally” touched his costar Ortega’s breast and she immediately pulled herself away from him. The cast of “Wednesday,” including White, has yet to speak out against these allegations. 

Fans have recently taken to social media platforms to address their new distaste for the actor and how he needs to be removed from the show immediately since Netflix announced its renewal for season two. Though some fans are arguing that people can lie, screenshots can be edited and that he should not be removed from the show until these claims are proven to be factual. 

“I think that he should face repercussions because those are serious allegations,” said Rebecca Timko, a junior business management major. “Even though the situation came from Twitter, it needs to be taken seriously and he should face the consequences.” 

Personally, I believe he should be removed from the show immediately and that silence speaks louder than any words. I think that the character, Xavier Thorpe, should be written out of the show entirely or recast by another young actor. 

Netflix’s silence also speaks volumes to me since I believe they should announce their awareness of the situation. However, I cannot say that I am surprised they have not spoken out about them yet considering how big companies never like to speak out about sexual assault. In my opinion, this looks extremely bad on Netflix’s part, especially considering how huge this show has become. 

When companies such as these do not speak out about the situation or fail to announce that they are going to look into it, I believe it discourages victims to come forward. White’s racist TikTok video is clearly proven to be him and was posted from an account of his, so why is Netflix not speaking out about that either? 

We have to remember that celebrities are not royalty that deserve to be put on a pedestal. Celebrities are people, just like everyone else, and can make horrible decisions. Seeing people treat White as if he can do no wrong is quite sickening to me and reiterates the idea that some cannot separate the character from the actor. Just because Xavier Thorpe might be your favorite character does not mean that you need to stick up for the actor portraying him. 

“I think that there should be action taken to hold White accountable for his actions (both alleged and proven),” said Hughes. “It’s important for companies, in this case Netflix, to take these allegations seriously and choose to not work with people that promote intolerant and dangerous behaviors. Continuing to work with someone with these allegations puts other actors, workers and fans at risk of facing harm. Additionally, continuing to give a platform to an alleged abuser perpetuates fanbases to support these people (given parasocial relationships) and prevent action from being taken to hold White accountable.”

The sexual assault hotline is 1-800-656-4672 for victims of sexual assault, harassment and domestic and dating violence.