Warner Bros. is staying silent no longer. Over the last couple of months, Justice League actor Ray Fisher has hit producers on that film Geoff Johns and Jon Berg, along with director Joss Whedon, hard with allegations of “gross, abusive, unprofessional” behavior on set. Fisher has been vocal in challenging the studio to do something, leading to them opening an investigation into the matter.
Well, last night Warner Bros. issued a statement which disputes Fisher’s statements, particularly those about DC Films President Walter Hamada, and also claims the actor is being uncooperative with the investigation. Furthermore, it’s suggested that his real beef is that Cyborg’s role was slashed heavily in Whedon’s version of the movie, while original director Zack Snyder had him as a centerpiece.
Here is the statement:
In July, Ray Fisher’s representatives asked DC Films President Walter Hamada to talk to Mr. Fisher about his concerns during the production of Justice League. The two had previously spoken when Mr. Hamada asked him to reprise his role as Cyborg in Warner Bros.’ upcoming Flash movie, together with other members of the Justice League.
In their July conversation, Mr. Fisher recounted disagreements he’d had with the film’s creative team regarding his portrayal of Cyborg, and complained that his suggested script revisions were not adopted. Mr. Hamada explained that creative differences are a normal part of the production process, and that a film’s writer/director ultimately has to be in charge of these matters.
Notably, Mr. Hamada also told Mr. Fisher that he would elevate his concerns to WarnerMedia so they could conduct an investigation. At no time did Mr. Hamada ever “throw anyone under the bus,” as Mr. Fisher has falsely claimed, or render any judgments about the Justice League production, in which Mr. Hamada had no involvement, since filming occurred before Mr. Hamada was elevated to his current position.
While Mr. Fisher never alleged any actionable misconduct against him, WarnerMedia nonetheless initiated an investigation into the concerns he’d raised about his character’s portrayal. Still not satisfied, Mr. Fisher insisted that WarnerMedia hire an independent third party investigator.
This investigator has attempted multiple times to meet with Mr. Fisher to discuss his concerns but, to date, Mr. Fisher has declined to speak to the investigator. Warner Bros. remains committed to accountability and to the well-being of every cast and crew member on each of its productions. It also remains committed to investigating any specific and credible allegation of misconduct, which thus far Mr. Fisher has failed to provide.
This is only going to get worse, because Fisher is not letting up. He let fly a tweet that says Hamada was ready to flip on Berg and Whedon…
So you can better understand how deep this goes:
After speaking out about Justice League, I received a phone call from the President of DC Films wherein he attempted to throw Joss Whedon and Jon Berg under the bus in hopes that I would relent on Geoff Johns.
I will not.
A>E
— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) September 4, 2020
This is usually the type of crap I ignore but I’m genuinely curious to see where all of this goes. It would seem that Fisher has burned his bridges, right? But he’s still going to be featured prominently in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and it sounds, at least for now, that he’ll be in The Flash. I will add that WB’s decision to issue this statement as a Friday night news dump suggests they want as little attention on it as possible.
