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--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire, an extra edition. I'm John Bickley, Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I'm Georgia Howe.
--:-- John Bickley: Today, we're talking about the state of viewpoint diversity in Hollywood. Our guest is Ingo Rademacher, a veteran soap opera actor, best known for his performances on General Hospital and Dancing with the Stars.
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--:-- Megan Basham: I'm Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham, and I'm here with Ingo Rademacher.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: Thank you so much for talking with us.
--:-- Megan Basham: You know, I remember when you were fired over the vax mandate, and I was not aware of some of the other elements of this story.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: So, obviously, we watched your Instagram video, and you mentioned that it wasn't just the vaccine mandate, but it was in the discovery process. You found out that they were trying to fire you before that because of your political and social views.
--:-- Megan Basham: So, one, what did you find? And then what were those views that they were objecting to?
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: So, yes, to answer your question, I was fired for not complying with the vaccine mandate, but I had kind of suspicions about maybe that it was political. Because in 2020, I started speaking out, you know, started speaking my political views on my social media accounts, my Twitter and my Instagram, because I thought, you know, that was my right.
--:-- Megan Basham: Little did I know. It is my right. And everyone's like, oh, you're crazy to speak out against this. And I'm like, well, no, this is freedom of speech.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: This is very important. If other people on the show get to speak, then so do I. And if they have different views, that's totally fine with me.
--:-- Megan Basham: So we had to fight very hard in order to expose the political animus towards me at work. And the ABC lawyers insisted that such evidence didn't exist.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And then at the last minute, you know, all of a sudden they found a bunch of emails and text messages that showed the political animus towards me.
--:-- Megan Basham: One of them was a producer calling me an ignorant racist, you know, just name calling for no reason.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And I think that kind of just shows the depth that Hollywood goes to in order to cover up the political discrimination.
--:-- Megan Basham: And I really think, you know, Gina Carano is a perfect example. When she started speaking out against the narrative, you know, they started looking for just any post of hers that they could use to fire her.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And they didn't even hide it. I mean, they came out, I think it was on Twitter, and they announced she is no longer working with us.
--:-- Megan Basham: And that not allowed in California. There are laws against firing people for their political views.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: Well, so can you drill down a little bit on what sort of political views they were objecting to?
--:-- Megan Basham: Because, you know, some people can hear that and they could think, well, maybe he said something really offensive.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: So, none of the things I said were offensive and none of the things I said were actually misinformation, as they like to say, about the vaccine.
--:-- Megan Basham: So just one of the posts, to give you an example, was I posted a reposted a story of a anti-vaccine passport rally.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: Now, this is not even anti-vaccine. I've never said anything to anybody about not taking the vaccine. This was literally just, you know, we shouldn't have vaccine passports.
--:-- Megan Basham: And they were really, really upset about that.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: You know, they were talking about recasting me and, you know, and things like that.
--:-- Megan Basham: So when that came along, they were just like, OK, well, we'll just use this. He's not going to get vaccinated and we'll just deny the religious exemption.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: So, I didn't know about that before. I didn't think that it was actually possible for them to mistreat me in such a way because, you know, I'm such a maybe I'm naive in that way.
--:-- Megan Basham: But I really believe in, you know, freedom of speech. And I advocate for anybody else that's on the show, like Nancy Lee Grant, for instance, who's very political about her views.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: I advocate for her, you know, for her freedom of speech. And that's one of the main things I think that we're fighting for, you know, besides the vaccine mandate being unconstitutional and the religious exemption being denied.
--:-- Megan Basham: Freedom of speech is at the heart of a well-functioning country. We have to have debate and nobody wants to debate anymore.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: They just want to call you names, try to smear you as much as possible, which is what happened with me, and then fire you as quickly as possible.
--:-- Megan Basham: And getting back to your question, none of the things I said were wrong. I did say in 2021 that this vaccine was never designed to stop the spread of the virus.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And that turns out to be 100% correct because it was never even tested against transmission.
--:-- Megan Basham: So, you know, nobody ever walks that back and goes, oh, by the way, Ingo Rademacher was right.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: All the headlines, if you Google it, say Ingo Rademacher was spreading misinformation about the vaccine.
--:-- Megan Basham: You know, so it was just pretty much every post of mine that they didn't like.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And look, I'm not a Republican or a Democrat. I criticized the media narrative.
--:-- Megan Basham: And that alone was enough to get me blacklisted in Hollywood and fired from GH.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And that was going to be part of my question. And you did bring up Nancy Legrand.
--:-- Megan Basham: And she essentially cheered your firing.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: I happened to see that post where she was celebrating the fact that you had been fired.
--:-- Megan Basham: It seemed like what she objected to was a post where you expressed a view that sometimes transgender women are currently being celebrated in a way that devalues female achievement.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: It's essentially, you might say, taking honors that once belonged to biological women and extending them out to transgender women.
--:-- Megan Basham: So my question on that point was going to be, you know, if you pull that popular consensus is with you on that.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: So, I mean, what was that like for you to see your co-stars celebrating your firing?
--:-- Megan Basham: And what's the working environment like when that's the reaction?
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: You know, she jumped on the virtue signaling train I think in a way and wanted to announce to everybody that I was mercifully no longer on the show.
--:-- Megan Basham: I think she put I mean look I am for equal rights for everybody but I not for special rights
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And I believe that the certain, you know, members of the trans community, when they are biological males and they want to compete against the women in sports, you're asking for special rights.
--:-- Megan Basham: And in our society, nobody gets special rights. It's equal rights for everybody.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: So me pointing out the fact that biological males shouldn't be put up for woman of the year, shouldn't be competing against females.
--:-- Megan Basham: I think that is exactly what you said. I think most of America is standing behind me on that.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And I have a daughter. I have two boys and a daughter.
--:-- Megan Basham: And, you know, she's only two and a half.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And I hope that we are done with all of this insanity, I call it.
--:-- Megan Basham: So, yeah, just, you know, getting back to Nancy, you know, announcing that I was no longer on the show, I think was really disappointing.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: But I don't mind working with somebody like that at work.
--:-- Megan Basham: It doesn't bother me because, again, it comes down to freedom of speech.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: Right. And I'm a huge supporter of that.
--:-- Megan Basham: If you want to talk about your political views and social views on your social media account, which is what she does, then I get to enjoy the same right.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: Now, she can disagree with me and we can argue about it, not at work, obviously.
--:-- Megan Basham: But also, I don't have a problem working with people that I don't agree with.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: It doesn't bother me.
--:-- Megan Basham: I don't talk about my politics at work.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: But my social media is my social media account.
--:-- Megan Basham: And I think I should have the right to say whatever I want since somebody else like her is enjoying her freedom to say whatever she wants.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: So, again, that's what it comes down to.
--:-- Megan Basham: So, you know, I don't have any problems with somebody like that at all.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: Because I actually believe, you know, the saying, you're not defending free speech unless it's hard for you to do.
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah, absolutely.
--:-- Megan Basham: And one of the things that struck me was another of your co-stars, you know, in the heat of this, said that misgendering trans folks is violence.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: No, it's absolutely not violent.
--:-- Megan Basham: First of all, that post was 100% correct.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: Okay, I can walk that back. I could have crossed it out and put transgender woman instead of dude.
--:-- Megan Basham: Right, that's what they were upset about because I misgendered somebody.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: This is purely a smear campaign against somebody that speaks out against the media narrative that they don't like.
--:-- Megan Basham: You know, I mean it's silly to say that oh well if you transition before the age of 12 and you take a bunch of hormones you are a woman.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: No, it's not even a debate that we should be having.
--:-- Megan Basham: We can't just say that trans women are women, period.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: We have to put trans in front of it.
--:-- Megan Basham: Otherwise, that leaves it open to all of those things, you know, being put up the woman of the year and competing against the women.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And I just don't agree with it.
--:-- Megan Basham: And I think everybody's behind me.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And that's not transphobic. That is just pointing out the truth.
--:-- Megan Basham: And I'm willing to have a debate with anybody about that, because at the end of that debate, I think Everyone's going to agree.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: Again, it comes down to the reason we separate women and men's sports is because the women can't compete against men in sports.
--:-- Megan Basham: That's the only reason we do it.
--:-- Megan Basham: Let me ask you then what is your sense in Hollywood of just how many performers how many other industry professionals are suppressing their views out of fear of the kind of job loss and blacklist that you describe.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: I'm gonna be guessing it probably somewhere close to half the people at work with me that their views do not align with the current media narrative or the current narrative in Hollywood.
--:-- Megan Basham: They are more on my side of this than anything else.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And, you know, hey, let me just throw this out there, too, to Nancy.
--:-- Megan Basham: Nancy should be my biggest advocate in this.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: Because, you know, it's wonderful that she gets to speak and say what can be interpreted as horrible things, you know, calling, I think it was Ivanka Trump, a Nazi for having a white dog and things like that.
--:-- Megan Basham: You know, there's so many posts that I'm like, okay.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: But again, I advocate for her to speak whatever she wants, you know, and that should be completely separate also from the character that we play.
--:-- Megan Basham: You know, and getting back to your question about, you know, people at work, people that do agree with my views are afraid to speak up.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: Anyone that you talk to and, you know, you get private messages, you get phone calls from friends and they're like, man, you have a lot of courage, but I just can't do it.
--:-- Megan Basham: You know, I just can't fight the fight.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: It's a little like that meme. Have you ever seen that meme where the executioner is about to kill the guy, but he's whispering to him, I agree with you.
--:-- Megan Basham: I mean, is that what you experienced?
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: Yeah, I mean, that's exactly right.
--:-- Megan Basham: They're just not going to say anything.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And to me, I walked away from an incredible job.
--:-- Megan Basham: And let me just say to everybody, sewing is not fun.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: It has completely thrown our lives upside down.
--:-- Megan Basham: We had to move from an amazing community.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: My kids moved from an amazing swim team with Olympic coaches.
--:-- Megan Basham: And they had a great life there and I had to, you know, tear them away from that life.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And they destroy lives when they don't stand for equal rights for everybody and freedom of speech.
--:-- Megan Basham: And yes, everybody is afraid to speak up in Hollywood.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And when you do, then they find a way very quickly to get rid of you.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, maybe a last question then, Ingo. Do you think that the protections for viewpoint discrimination, Do they need to be strengthened in law?
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: Well, we do have laws in California that protect political speech.
--:-- Megan Basham: You are not allowed to be fired for your political views or posts in California.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: I think there are other states that maybe allow that, which I was shocked to hear.
--:-- Megan Basham: And I think, yes, in that sense, it needs to be strengthened.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And that is why it's also so very important for us to win this case is to set a precedent that this kind of behavior from a big corporation like ABC Disney is not OK.
--:-- Megan Basham: What they did to me was not OK.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: It hurt me.
--:-- Megan Basham: And again, it's just not something that we should ever be exposed to again.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: And that's why it's so important to win this fight and why everybody doesn't matter if you left or right or in the middle.
--:-- Megan Basham: You should be behind me right now.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: That's all the things we're fighting for.
--:-- Megan Basham: Everyone, you know, for everyone to speak and everybody to not be afraid to speak your social views and political views without getting fired.
--:-- Ingo Rademacher: That's the goal.
--:-- Megan Basham: And that's where we have to get in this country.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, Ingo, we appreciate your time so much and best of luck to you.
--:-- Megan Basham: Megan, I appreciate your time. Thank you.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham talking with actor Ingo Rademacher. And this has been an extra edition of Morning Wire.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for tuning in to this special episode of Morning Wire.
