Wednesday has been renewed for a second season by Netflix, but following some troubling allegations, one of its lead actors may not be returning. Percy Hynes White has been accused of sexual assault in a series of tweets published this week by Twitter user @milkievich. In the thread, she alleges that the actor assaulted her and “multiple” friends of hers when he lived in Toronto between the ages of 17 and 20. The thread spurred many other women to come forward with similar accusations. It does not appear that formal charges have been filed yet, but the allegations against White are deeply disturbing.
Wednesday first premiered on Netflix on November 23, 2022, and quickly became one of the most-watched TV shows in the streamer’s history. As a result, it wasn’t surprising when Netflix renewed the show for a second season, which will continue to follow a teenage Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) as she navigates high school. However, the show has not been without its issues: In addition to the allegations against White, Wednesday has been criticized for exclusively casting Black actors as villains.
In the show, White portrays Xavier Thorpe, a fellow student at Nevermore who befriends Wednesday. He has the power to turn art into reality and competes with Tyler (Hunter Doohan) for Wednesday’s affection. White has not been on the Hollywood scene for long and, aside from Wednesday, his biggest project was The Gifted, a TV series based on Marvel’s X-Men that was canceled after two seasons. As such, it seems that his alleged victims were not previously aware of White’s acting career and were shocked to see him starring on Wednesday.
The allegations against Percy Hynes White, explained
The accusations against White first surfaced when Twitter user @milkievich posted a public Twitter thread detailing multiple allegations. @milkievich started off the thread explaining that she and her friends were “shocked” and “sick” to their stomachs after seeing White on Wednesday, which they described as their favorite show.
In the thread, she went on to allege that White and his friend group, starting around age 15, had a reputation in Toronto for being manipulative, rude, and abusive to girls. Things only got worse as they got older and White started throwing parties with his friends, where they would allegedly invite girls over with the intention of getting them drunk enough to sexually assault them. She went on to claim that some of the girls White and his friends manipulated and abused were 13-16 years of age, while White was between the ages of 17-20. The woman also alleged that he had cornered and assaulted her at one of these parties and that there are rape allegations against him. She claims that White would also use derogatory language and attempt to bully women who turned him down.
She also explained that she is trying to raise awareness about the allegations because of White’s heightened fame and the fact that he may have a large following of young female fans from his appearance on Wednesday. Meanwhile, other Twitter users came forward to back up @milkievich’s account with additional allegations against White. The Twitter thread grew expansive with dozens of retweets and replies from many sharing their own allegations, as well as screenshots of disturbing tweets and DMs that allegedly sent by White, and confirmation of the Twitter user’s original account.
Will White still be in Wednesday?
For months after the allegations began, White had not publicly responded, but there was evidence that he was aware of them. Shortly after the allegations were made, he restricted comments on his public Instagram account. His name had been trending on Twitter as users came forward with more allegations and evidence against him, and fans began calling for him to be removed from the show.
In June 2023, White finally addressed the situation on Instagram, denying the allegations:
It is still too early to tell if White will be removed from Wednesday, and Netflix has yet to address the allegations.
(featured image: Netflix)
