Ronni Hawk, star of Disney Channel‘s Stuck in the Middle and Netflix’s On My Block is now facing felony charges for an alleged assault. Hawk was arrested on Friday in Los Angeles after police reportedly got a call to a home for a domestic disturbance; it’s reported that the man found at the residence had visible injuries including scratches. Officers reported that a verbal argument between Ronni Hawk and her boyfriend got physical, and the level of injury the boyfriend sustained required them to arrest Hawk. She has been taken to Van Nuys jail, on one felony count of corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant, TMZ reports.
Hawk has previously made headlines for controversy over socio-political views that distinctly clashed with her onscreen roles in Latin-driven series. In 2018, fans of Netflix’s On My Block hit social media with calls for Hawk to be fired from the show, after old (deleted) tweets resurfaced showing her support of President Trump’s election in 2016. Those old tweets were drudged up after Hawk posted her views on gun control, following the 2018 mass shooting at the Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Hawk tweeted: “Listennnnn y’all. Yes, this shooting was a horrific, tragic event but yelling at our government WILL NOT HELP US!!!!”. That statement (and other tweets) drew ire from many On My Block fans, as the show was celebrated as a portrait of young urban kids that directly refuted Trumpian views of kids of color (Latinos in particular). Since Hawk’s character had been shot in the season 1 finale cliffhanger, angry fans thought it would be poetic to have her character Olivia killed off by gunfire, and have the actress let go from the show.
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Indeed, season 2 of On My Block started with the reveal that Olivia died from the shooting. However, series creator Eddie Gonzalez told Screen Rant that was always in the plans (not necessarily because of the controversy surrounding Hawk):
“Yes, from the outset, Olivia was always going to die. When Lauren [Iungerich], Jeremy and I pitched Netflix the show, we told them that Olivia would die at the end of the first season. As harsh as it sounded, it was also sadly very real when you grow up in communities like Freeridge.”
Recenlty, things seemed to be back on the upswing for Ronni Hawk, as she started landing appearances on bigger shows like the hit CBS series S.W.A.T. (2018), and most recently an arc on Vampire Diaries spinoff, Legacies (2020). She’s also listed to have some independent film work on the horizon, as well.
