Ray Fisher opens up about alleged mistreatment during 'Justice League' reshoot
Ray Fisher, best known for his role as Victor Stone/Cyborg in “Justice League,” has spoken out against the “gross, abusive, unprofessional and completely unacceptable” on-set treatment the cast and crew received during the film’s reshoots.
Allegedly, the perpetrator was director Joss Whedon, who was enabled by co-President of production Jon Berg and former DC Entertainment president Geoff Johns. Fisher tweeted the accusations back in July, sparking a now on-going investigation with WarnerMedia HR, Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment.
“I believe this investigation will show that Johns, Whedon, Berg (and others) grossly abused their power during the uncertainty of AT&T’s merger with Time Warner,” Fisher tweeted after the investigation was confirmed.
Through the whole process, Fisher has been informing his fans every step of the way via his Twitter. He always ends every tweet with “Accountability>Entertainment” or "A>E." His fans appreciate his transparency, trending the hashtag #IStandWithRayFisher.
Warner Bros. released a statement on the situation after the actor’s claims reached worldwide news. Warner Bros. made clear exactly what side it was on and how it was going to handle this: “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.”
It also stated that Fisher refused to talk to the investigator and his claims were due to creative differences with his character’s portrayal: “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.”
Fisher quickly defended himself on Twitter, providing email proof that Warner Bros.’ accusations were false. “Thank you all for the support and for seeing through @wbpictures desperate and scattershot attempt to discredit me to continue protecting those in power,” he said.
Last week, fellow "Justice League" co-star Jason Momoa made his stance clear by defending Fisher on Instagram. “Serious stuff went down. It needs to be investigated and people need to be held accountable,” he said.
The main argument surrounding this situation is: Who should we believe? A multi-billion dollar company or a singular Black man? Many people say that he’s making this whole thing up because he wants attention. To that, I must say there are far easier ways to do that.
Fisher could lose his entire career for this — he’s at risk of being blacklisted in Hollywood. What he’s doing is nothing short of brave. As I said in my last article on John Boyega, this is a systemic problem plaguing all of Hollywood thanks to the white men controlling it.
Just like Boyega, Fisher was sidelined in a film he should have been a main character on. After “Justice League” premiered in theaters, there were rumors of a “Zack Snyder cut,” a special version of the film in which Cyborg played a much larger role. Snyder called Fisher’s character “the heart of the movie” before the movie ever hit big screens, according to an interview with USA Today.
The movie we got was a mess of Whedon "jokes," bad story decisions (that we can now say definitely came from higher ups in Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment) and only a glimpse of Snyder’s vision. We’ll finally see Snyder’s version of "Justice League" next year as a four-episode mini series on HBO Max, where Fisher’s Cyborg will truly get to shine.
Regardless of that, details of what happened on the set of those reshoots remains largely unknown. Fisher is giving as many details as he can while still respecting the affected crew and cast members' privacy. Rumor is that other famous cast members aren’t able to speak out in support of Fisher because they are being threatened with Non-Disclosure Agreements they signed.
So far only Momoa and Kiersey Clemons, the actress who played Iris West- Allen who was completely cut from the theatrical version of the film, are the only ones to post on social media in support of Fisher. I’m sure other cast members will follow suit in the coming weeks, if not days.
Every day that passes, there’s a new development to the investigation coming directly from Fisher’s tweets. I don’t think this will be resolved quietly at all. But I’m glad. There’s enough racial silence going on in Hollywood, along with the rest of the world.
Fisher’s bravery will bring in a new change.
He didn’t back down when a multi-billion dollar company tried to silence him, and neither should anyone else. Because accountability should always be more important than entertainment, and no one is showing us that better than Fisher.
