Ric No More? General Hospital's Rick Hearst sets the record straight on exit rumors

General Hospital fans have been loving the return of Ric Lansing ever since he stepped back into the Port Charles scene nearly two years ago. This return has been so well-received that many worry he'll be written out again any day, but Rick Hearst wants viewers to know that Ric's time is not up quite yet.

General Hospital's Ric is sticking around

With Hearst being on recurring status, GH fans know that means he can disappear again any day, and he had a scare last year when Ric was in a car accident that looked as if it could claim his life. Thankfully, Ric survived, but that story led to Ric spending last summer in Alexis' (Nancy Lee Grahn) basement tied to a gurney with a ball gag in his mouth.

That story took Hearst off-screen for a bit, as we mainly heard about Ric's confinement, but didn't see much of it. Not seeing Ric also had fans wondering if Hearst, whose main home is New Jersey, where he is a real estate agent, had been written off again.

Now, Hearst has spotted some online rumors stating he'd announced his departure, which are apparently untrue. Hearst took a screenshot of rumors and plastered the words "I hate the internet" across them in an Instagram post. Next to the image, he shared an emoji of a bull with the word "Shyte," letting us know what he thought of these rumors.

Two other soap stars quickly chimed in. Lesli Kay, who once played Lois on GH, wrote, "I concur, it happened to me recently. People can literally post whatever they feel like." Tamara Braun, who currently plays Sienna on The Young and the Restless and has brought Carly and Kim to life on GH, said, "The internet said I died last month. 😂 Can’t believe everything you read."

Ric Lansing's latest close call

Ric recently had an incident with Sonny and some art | Image: ABC

After Ric escaped his basement prison, he decided to turn over a new leaf by re-establishing a relationship with his half-brother, Sonny (Maurice Benard). Over the last six months, Ric has become Sonny's right-hand man (or at least his trusted attorney), a position Ric covets.

Recently, Sonny began suspecting Ric had turned on him as he had done so many times in the past. Sonny confronted Ric with a gun, only to learn he was buying a rare piece of art for Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) and wanted to keep the purchase a secret. Sonny didn't apologize, but he put down the gun and all was right in Ric's world again.

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.