Controversies
Amell's statements and behavior have occasionally drawn controversy. In September 2015, after a Muslim student was arrested for bringing a disassembled digital clock to his high school in Irving, Texas, Amell tweeted, "Stereotyping Texas isn't any better than stereotyping Ahmed". The post drew criticism online, prompting Amell to take a break from social media.
In 2018, Amell tweeted "my âpölògīés" in response to criticism about his failure to use the acute accent while tweeting singer Beyoncé's name. After he was accused by online commenters of disrespecting black names, he said he had omitted the accent while being "lazy in the midst of a mediocre joke".
In 2020, during the Black Lives Matter protests, Amell was criticized by comic book writer Tee Franklin and others for saying that racism is a systemic problem but that he had not personally "seen it in action".
In 2021, Amell was asked to leave a Delta Air Lines flight traveling from Austin to Los Angeles for yelling at his wife. He later said he was intoxicated at the time.
In July 2023, Amell was criticized for comments he made at a fan convention regarding the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. While he expressed support for SAG-AFTRA as his union, he called striking a "reductive negotiating tactic" and "myopic" and seemed to criticize that the strike banned him from promoting the second season of Heels. He later clarified his opinion, saying that while he does not like striking, he "[understands] fundamentally why we're here" and stated that his support for the union was unconditional and that he stood with them. Amell did not attend the Arrow cast reunion on the picket line outside the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank, California, as he was in New York City at the time, but on the day of the reunion, he was photographed on the picket line in front of the Warner Bros. Discovery offices in New York and reportedly sent his regards to his former showrunners in California. Marc Guggenheim, executive producer of Arrow and organizer of the revival, interpreted his attendance in New York as a symbolic stand in solidarity.
