Actor Candice Patton called out the CW for their lack of protection from racist harassment online when she first joined 'The Flash' in 2014.
The actor said recently that her early days on the CW show included racist backlash on social media and recalled how she felt the network and the studio, Warner Bros. Television, did not do enough to protect her from harassment.
Upon joining “The Flash” cast in 2014, Patton received racist comments from comic book fans for her portrayal of Barry Allen’s significant other, Iris West. Patton is Black; West was depicted as white in the original comic books. She recalled that neither the CW nor Warner Bros. had any “social media protocols in place to protect me.
Patton said she noticed she was being treated differently. She said she would she would not receive promotions “in the same way they would promote other people sometimes” and said she had to go through her publicist to get the show’s official Instagram account to follow her back.Eight seasons later, Patton is still on the show. Now, she said, “It’s more leveled out.”