WarnerMedia Investigating ‘Justice League’ Production Amid New Ray Fisher Claims
WarnerMedia has launched an investigation into the production of “Justice League,” a source with knowledge at the company confirmed to Variety. The decision comes after repeated public statements by one of the film’s stars, Ray Fisher, alleging misconduct by filmmaker Joss Whedon and producers Geoff Johns and Jon Berg while making the film.
There have been no findings yet, and there is no specific timeline for the investigation. The source stressed that WarnerMedia hasn’t prejudged Whedon, Johns, or Berg, that the investigation is not limited to them, and that to preserve the integrity of the investigation, the company won’t conduct it in the public sphere.
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Meanwhile, on Thursday, Fisher, who plays Cyborg, also tweeted that WarnerMedia had hired an independent third party to investigate his allegations. He also suggested for the first time that unnamed “others” on the production “grossly abused their power” and that the then-in-progress merger of Time Warner and AT&T provided cover for the alleged behavior.
I believe this investigation will show that Geoff Johns, Joss Whedon, Jon Berg (and others) grossly abused their power during the uncertainty of AT&T’s merger with Time Warner.
Thank you @WarnerMedia and @ATT for making strides to ensure a safer workplace for all!🙏🏽
A>E
(2/2)
— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) August 20, 2020
It’s the latest in a series of tweets and public statements made by Fisher about “Justice League” in the last two months. In early July, Fisher dropped a bombshell claim on Twitter that during the period that Whedon took over directing duties for additional photography on the production from original director Zack Snyder — who stepped back from the film due to a family tragedy — Whedon’s treatment of the cast and crew of “Justice League” was “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.” Fisher further claimed that Johns and Berg “enabled” Whedon’s behavior.
Later that month, during a panel for an independent “Justice League” online fan convention, Fisher claimed that he was in the middle of “a process” to get to “the heart” of his allegations.
In August, Fisher claimed on Twitter that Johns “summoned” him to Johns’ office “to belittle and admonish” him for attempting to “take grievances up the proper chain of command,” and threatened Fisher’s career.
Despite his public statements, Fisher has provided no concrete details or corroboration for his claims.
A representative for Warner Bros. declined to comment, and a rep for Johns did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After Fisher’s initial claim, Whedon declined to comment, and Berg said it was “categorically untrue that we enabled any unprofessional behavior.”
The news of the investigation comes just two days before Snyder is expected to appear during the DC FanDome fan convention to unveil a new look at his highly anticipated “Snyder Cut” of “Justice League,” the result of a grassroots fan effort to restore Snyder’s original vision for the production. The new version of “Justice League” is scheduled to debut on WarnerMedia’s subscription streaming service HBO Max in 2021.
Johns is slated to appear at the follow-up DC FanDome event on Sept. 12 to promote the CW series “DC’s Stargirl,” which he created and executive produced. Whedon is in the middle of production of the first season of “The Nevers” for HBO.
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