General Hospital star Steve Burton was fired for non-complying with a vaccination mandate on the sets of the show. Burton became the second actor, along with co-star Ingo Rademacher, to be fired from the show. 

The 51-year-old star has played the character of Jason Morgan since 1991.

General Hospital is the longest running show in the history of American soap operas, with a whopping 14,000 episodes since 1963.

Burton addressed the ongoing rumors and speculations from fans and shared his side of the story on his Instagram handle, confirming that General Hospital has “let him go” because of the vaccine mandate.

Steve applied for medical and religious exemptions, which were both denied, to which he felt “hurt”. He added that no one should lose their livelihood over this, and then expressed his gratitude, while hoping to return to the show in a post-pandemic future.

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Burton portrayed his character of Jason Morgan from 1991 to 2012, with a five-year break to venture into other projects. He then returned to the show in 2017, and has been playing the role ever since.

In Monday’s episode, Burton’s character, Jason Morgan seems to have collapsed under a tunnel, which made fans suspect his departure from the show.

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It is also worth noting that Steve tested positive for Covid-19 back in August, saying he had been “exposed at work”.

Co-star Ingo Rademacher’s departure from the show on the other hand, created a much larger frenzy, all thanks to his extreme anti-vaccine propaganda all over his Instagram handle, with a dash of transphobic tweets. Following Burton’s Instagram video statement, Rademacher politely commented “well said my friend”.

With his refusal to get vaccinated, Burton’s character remains buried under a pile of rubble, and Burton remains buried under misinformation surrounding the vaccine.