Ray Fisher Disputes WarnerMedia Exec’s Comments Regarding ‘Justice League’ Investigation
Ray Fisher is disputing comments made by WarnerMedia Studios CEO Ann Sarnoff regarding the investigation into Fisher’s allegations of misconduct on the “Justice League” set.
Fisher has alleged that Warner Bros. executives attempted to impede the investigation of racially biased behavior regarding the film, which director Joss Whedon took over after original director Zack Snyder stepped away in 2017 due to a family tragedy.
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In an interview with Variety published on Monday morning, Sarnoff said that the investigation did not corroborate those claims, specifically that DC Films President Walter Hamada attempted to interfere in the investigation.
“Our investigator, Judge Katherine Forrest, has issued statements specifically about [DC Films president] Walter Hamada, saying that there was no evidence of interference by Walter in the investigation,” Sarnoff said. “She said that the cuts made in the Joss Whedon version of ‘Justice League’ were not racially motivated. We took it very seriously, so we hired one of the top investigators out there and gave her a tremendous amount of leeway.”
Sarnoff also said there is not a NDA keeping Fisher, who played the superhero Cyborg, from revealing specifics about the abusive behavior he says he experienced. A representative for Fisher confirmed this to Variety in a statement, saying: “Mr. Fisher is no longer under NDA and will comment further when appropriate to do so.”
Sarnoff defended Hamada against Fisher’s claims, saying Hamada had “nothing to do with ‘Justice League'” and that he was “disappointed” that much of Cyborg’s story had been cut from the original film.
“There really was nothing that Walter did against Ray, in fact he offered him a role in the Flash movie,” Sarnoff said. “…Walter happens to be a person of color, so he knows what that feels like. He is bringing in diverse voices at an accelerated pace, more than anyone has in the past.”
Fisher has said that his character was removed from “The Flash” film.
Fisher issued a response to Sarnoff’s comments Monday evening on Twitter, addressing specific parts of Sarnoff’s interview.
“Apparently some folks at @WarnerMedia think that a room full of executives saying ‘we can’t [have] an angry Black man at the center of the movie’ (and then reducing/removing all Black and POC from that movie) isn’t racist. Odd,” Fisher wrote.
Fisher called WarnerMedia’s use of the term “former federal judge” in referral to the investigator they hired “an attempt to sway public opinion” and “obvious and desperate,” and reiterated that not only Whedon is at fault for removing him from the film.
“As I’ve said – people will attempt to shift blame completely to Joss Whedon for the Justice League reshoots,” Fisher wrote. “Toby Emmerich, Geoff Johns, and Jon Berg share in that responsibility; with Johns working directly with Joss on restructuring the script based on exec’s convos,” Fisher wrote.
Fisher also called Sarnoff’s comments about Hamada offering Fisher a role in the “Flash” movie and Hamada “knowing what it feels like” as a person of color “the absolute definition of tone deaf.”
Lastly, Fisher encouraged WarnerMedia to share the findings of the “Justice League” investigation with the public: “Rather than trying to convince people on what the Justice League investigation DIDN’T find – how about you start telling them what it DID?”
WarnerMedia declined Variety‘s request for comment on Fisher’s tweets.
In January, Fisher’s character, Cyborg, was removed from “The Flash” film. In December 2020, WarnerMedia announced that it had concluded their investigation into misconduct on the set of “Justice League,” and that “remedial action” had been taken.
Fisher first alleged that misconduct had occurred in July 2020, when he claimed that Whedon had exhibited abusive behavior on set, while producers Johns and Berg enabled him. An investigation was opened into the claims in August 2020, but escalated the next month when Warner Bros. released a statement that, among other things, Fisher “falsely claimed” that Hamada threw Whedon and Berg “under the bus” in a conversation with Fisher, in an attempt to save face for Johns, a claim Fisher has stood by. Warner Bros. also claimed in September that Fisher initially declined to speak with the third party investigator, which Fisher disputes.
Fisher has not publicly detailed his allegations about Whedon’s behavior on the set of “Justice League,” and WarnerMedia has not publicly revealed the findings of its investigation, nor any details of the “remedial action” the company says was taken once it concluded.
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