KJ Apa to replace disgraced Youtube star Kian Lawley in film

Kiwi star KJ Apa. Photo / Getty Images

Kiwi star KJ Apa has been brought in to replace disgraced YouTube star Kian Lawley as the star of the upcoming film The Hate U Give.

Lawley was dropped after videos surfaced of him uttering several racist slurs in a tirade against a movie inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.

According to Deadline, Apa will now step in to Lawley's role and will take part in a week of re-shoots for the film, in a move not unlike Christopher Plummer's replacement of Kevin Spacey in All the Money in the world.

Filming is taking place over the coming week in Atlanta.

The film is an adaptation of the Angie Thomas novel of the same name and stars Amandla Stenberg as a prep school student who witnesses a police officer murder her best friend.

Apa plays her boyfriend - "one of the privileged white kids" at school who is forced to confront issues of race and prejudice as the story unfolds.

The film is being directed by George Tillman Jr. and also stars Russell Hornsby, Issa Rae, Common, Regina Hall, and Algee Smith.

Apa's hit CW show Riverdale has also just been renewed for a third season.