How ‘Wednesday' Season 2 explained Percy Hynes White's exit after sexual misconduct claims
Actor Percy Hynes White, who played Xavier Thorpe on Season 1 of the hit Netflix show 'Wednesday,' didn't return for Season 2 following sexual misconduct allegations made against him.
Xavier was a main character on the first season of the Tim Burton Addams family series, and he was presented as a possible love interest for Wednesday (Jenna Ortega, 22).
6 Jenna Ortega and Percy Hynes White in 'Wednesday.'
©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
6 Jenna Ortega attends the Wednesday S2 NY Fan Screening at Paris Theater on August 5, 2025 in New York City.
Getty Images for Netflix
So, how did Season 2 (now streaming) address the character's glaring absence?
In the first episode of Season 2, new principal Barry Dort (Steve Buscemi) reveals that Xavier has transferred to 'Reichenbach Academy in Switzerland.'
Later in the episode, Wednesday gets a present from her former friend and would-be beau.
He sends her a painting of 'a creepy crow on a headstone' and a note reading, 'I tried texting but I guess you lost the phone I gave you. Consider this my goodbye gift.'
Xavier says in the note that he painted the crow because, 'The image suddenly flashed in my head. Don't ask me how I know or what it means but it's connected to you, I'm sure. Who is Wednesday Addams without a mystery to solve, right? Xavier.'
Season 1 of 'Wednesday' premiered in November 2022, following the Addams family daughter, Wednesday, as a teen attending Nevermore Academy for outcasts.
6 Jenna Ortega as Wednesday.
BERNARD WALSH/NETFLIX
6 Jenna Ortega and Percy Hynes White in 'Wednesday.'
©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
The show quickly became Netflix's most watched English language series, generating 252 million views globally, per The Hollywood Reporter.
In January 2023, a Twitter user alleged that White had assaulted her at a party he hosted in Toronto. In now-deleted tweets, she claimed he also assaulted other women, and provided alcohol and drugs to underage girls in order to have sex with them.
White released a statement denying the claims that June.
'Somebody I've never met started a campaign of misinformation about me online,' he wrote on Instagram in June 2023. 'Because of this, my family has been doxxed, and my friends have received death threats.'
The Canadian native said that the 'false' and 'harmful' rumors about him 'can create mistrust toward victims.'
He wrote, 'I can't accept the portrayal of me as someone bigoted, or criminally negligent of people's safety. These are the kind of baseless, harmful claims that can create mistrust toward victims. It's very distressing to know that this misinformation has upset people. I'm really thankful for everyone who's stood by me and helped share the facts.'
6 Jenna Ortega as Wednesday.
COURTESY OF NETFLIX
6 Percy Hynes White in 'Wednesday.'
©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
In May 2024, Netflix confirmed that White was not returning. They did not comment on whether the allegations were the reason for his exit.
In an interview with Vanity Fair that September, Ortega called his departure from the show 'a weird redirect.'
'But we're introducing so many different characters that I think it kind of will get lost,' she added.
'Wednesday' has already been renewed for a Season 3.
Season 2 Part 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Part 2 premieres Sept. 3.
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