“Wednesday” fans are outraged by sexual misconduct allegations of actor Percy White

LATE NOVEMBER —The air became increasingly colder. Bundled up inside your home with a warm blanket, you waited for Netflix to load as you listened to the heater hum softly. As the stressful semester came to an end, you couldn’t seem to catch a break. 

All of a sudden, something out of the ordinary caught your eye— a Netflix original spin on the infamous Addams family franchise of our childhoods. The show-stopping program “Wednesday,” leaped to greatness within five days of its release, reaching a record breaking total of 6 billion minutes watched. You pressed play and finished the show in a few days. As the credits rolled without a “play next” button, you impatiently asked google, “Will there be a season two?”

While the show has been renewed, fans are disheartened and their numbers are dwindling due to recent drama with previously idolized actor Percy Hynes White.

White played the stalkerish, rejected love interest of Wednesday, Xavier Thorpe. Throughout the show, the audience held Thorpe under great suspicion for being an untrustworthy and malevolent character. 

Coincidentally, White’s role as Thorpe parallels his current media debacle. 

Twitter user @milkievich alleged that as a high school student between the ages of 17 and 20, White and his friends frequently hosted parties with the intention of getting attractive girls drunk and high enough to have sex with them. 

@milkievich also reported that her friend was manipulated and sexually pressured by him when he was 17 and she was only 13 or 14 years old. Purportedly, White would intoxicate her and force her into sex. 

According to @milkievich, the last time her friend had sex with him was when she was 16 and he was 20. 

According to this user, classmates cautioned against White and labeled his friend group as “creeps” for repeatedly coercing girls into sex and sending unwarranted nudes. This behavior was reported since their freshman year at 15 years old. They also claimed that White and his friends were generally abusive people.

White has been accused of sending weird and inappropriate photos to minors, some of which have been leaked. 

Additionally, a video of White saying a racial slur surfaced the internet via TikTok. Many took offense to the video for both his use of a slur and his insensitive humor. 

Thus, the hashtag, “#CancelPercy” rapidly spread across Twitter, causing White to limit his Instagram comment section.

Deeply disturbed by the accusations against White, Angel O’neil, “Wednesday” fan and sophomore at San Domenico said, “It’s really disappointing to hear about Percy’s allegations, especially ones as serious as he has. It’s beyond surprising for me because he comes off like a regular celebrity.”

Lydia Winkeller, a math instructor at San Domenico, said she has never watched “Wednesday,” but her daughters did. Contrasting to O’Neil, Winkeller stated that her daughter Emily did not like the show very much and thought it was mediocre overall. 

However, Winkeller quickly jumped on the train to “#CancelPercy” along with her daughter upon researching White’s recent drama.   

Sympathizing with the victims, Winkeller said, “It’s a hard thing to come out and say. That’s why rapists get away with it because their victims are afraid that they’re going to be ostracized—especially if it’s somebody popular.”

“…I think if the women are willing to come forward… I absolutely think it should go to court, but it’s a question of whether you can get any of his victims to press charges,” she added. 

Hannah Silber, a junior at San Domenico agreed and said, “I think this is a serious situation— allegations like this are not something to be taken lightly. If I was on the production team, I would try to find a replacement for his character.”

O’neil said, “Although nothing has been proved, I think they should definitely consider a recast for Xavier because giving a sexual predator a platform is definitely wrong and has a negative effect on the rest of the show’s cast and production.”

“However, I think both the production and the public should wait for some sort of statement from Percy or his management to see what the response is and get a deeper understanding of the situation,” she clarified. 

Both “Wednesday” fans and haters across the globe await a statement from White and Netflix and refuse to let such claims be swept under the rug.

Whether the allegations against White become a larger legal issue or not, many fans believe the production team should replace White in the cast of  “Wednesday” season two to assure the audience that Netflix acknowledges and cares about survivors.