Broadway's Hadestown has parted ways with Geno Segers, the actor announced to play Hades, after past online comments and videos of his resurfaced. Segers and the production mutually agreed he would no longer join the show, the producers confirmed in a statement reported by The Hollywood Reporter (The Hollywood Reporter).

The move came just days after Hadestown announced a new principal cast with Segers in the central role of Hades. He had been scheduled to begin performances on September 1, according to Deadline (Deadline).

The theater site OnStageBlog reported that Segers had previously posted videos characterized by commenters as anti-transgender and critical of pronoun usage. Deadline further reported that Segers had expressed opposition to transgender athletes participating in women's sports. After the parting was announced, Segers made his Instagram account private and removed videos from his YouTube channel.

The producers' statement gave no explanation for the separation and did not include a statement from Segers himself. Hadestown, now in its eighth year on Broadway, had announced the new cast — including Norbert Leo Butz, Amber Iman, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Kayko, and Segers — on July 29, per Playbill (Playbill). A replacement for the role of Hades has not yet been announced.

Segers began his theatrical career playing Mufasa in Disney's Australian production of The Lion King and later appeared in the New York City Center Encores! production of On the Town. His television credits include Mason Makoola on the Disney XD series Pair of Kings, Chayton Littlestone on the Cinemax drama Banshee, and roles on Yellowstone, Teen Wolf, Longmire, Castle, and Perfect Harmony.

The Hades role is the commanding figure at the center of Hadestown — the underworld boss whose grip on his kingdom and his wife Persephone drives the show's tension. Casting a replacement on short notice is no small task: Broadway productions run eight performances a week, and a principal role like Hades carries significant stage time and vocal demand. Hadestown, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2019, has cycled through a steady roster of replacements and new principals across its run, most recently welcoming J. Harrison Ghee, Joshua Colley, Jordan Tyson, Gary Dourdan, and Gaby Moreno to the company earlier this year.

The speed of the reversal was notable. Segers was announced on a Tuesday. By the weekend, the deal was undone. For a production that has been running since 2019 — long past the point where original cast contracts have lapsed and replacement casting is routine business — the episode is a reminder that an announcement is not a performance until the actor is in the building.