Interview: Ray Fisher Speaks Out On “Toxic” Set And WarnerMedia Investigation Into Justice League Production
Sheraz FarooqiFormer Contributor
Hollywood & Entertainment
I cover pop-culture and film with a financial lens.
LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 04: Actor Ray Fisher attends the 'Justice League' photocall at The ... [+]
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Update (11/2/2020): This story and headline have been updated from the original version, which the editors determined lacked journalistic rigor and fairness. Quotation marks were added to indicate Fisher’s use of the word “toxic” in the headline. Comments were added from Warner Bros. and representatives for Joss Whedon.
This quote from Fisher was deemed to be primarily based on third-person information and was removed: “What set my soul on fire and forced me to speak out about Joss Whedon this summer was my becoming informed that Joss had ordered that the complexion of an actor of color be changed in post-production because he didn’t like the color of their skin tone,” Fisher firmly stated. “Man, with everything 2020’s been, that was the tipping point for me.”
“The erasure of people of color from the 2017 theatrical version of
Justice League was neither an accident nor coincidence,” Ray Fisher calmly, but sternly stated.
Justice League star Ray Fisher has never been shy about speaking his truth. Focused and measured, Fisher spoke with Forbes about his continued dispute with Warner Bros. Fisher passionately spoke on the toxic and harmful work environment that he and the cast endured during the film’s Joss Whedon-led reshoots, after he took over from original director, Zack Snyder. Fisher went into detail on the myriad issues on set.
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Fisher’s campaign started on June 29. Fisher put Hollywood on notice when he shared a clip of himself from Hall H at 2017’s San Diego Comic-Con. During the
Justice League panel that year, fans were blissfully unaware of the lies the cast were forced to say, according to Fisher. “I’d like to take a moment and forcefully retract every bit of this statement,” Fisher said on Twitter.
In September, Warner Bros.
issued a statement denying many of Fisher’s claims and cited his failure to cooperate with the investigation thus far. The studio, Whedon, and others mentioned did not provide a respond with request for comment. Fisher’s statements in full follow here.
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Fisher Discusses Abusive Set and Racist Environment
Fisher went into detail on why he felt the need to retract the statement, citing how fabricated talking points were distributed to the cast of heaping praise on Whedon as Snyder’s replacement.
“For one thing, the cast and crew were told that Zack had handpicked Joss to finish the film for him. I didn’t find out until after the reshoots that that was a complete lie.” Fisher began. “I heard whispers and rumblings of things being off behind the scenes, but nothing concrete until much later. They had us go out to San Diego Comic-Con in 2017 and say Zack picked Joss and that Joss was a great guy. I still have the email with those talking points.”
Two days later, Fisher took to Twitter to point fingers and provide the names of the those he held responsible.
“Joss Whedon’s on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional and completely unacceptable. He was enabled, in many ways, by Geoff Johns and Jon Berg. Accountability>Entertainment,” Fisher tweeted on July 1st.
After Zack Snyder left
Justice League’s production in early 2017 following a family tragedy, Warner Bros. Pictures brought in Joss Whedon to conduct reshoots that heavily altered the original film. The cast of the film was taken aback by the things that happened in Snyder’s absence. Yet, the cast was not aware of how bad things were about to get.
“You’ve got to understand, Zack stepped away to be with his family, and we wanted to give him space to do that,” Fisher said. “He and I didn’t speak for about a year after he left.”
Fisher went on to explain how the abusive and unprofessional atmosphere was cultivated behind closed doors even before Snyder departed the project.
“Prior to Justice League’s reshoot process, blatantly racist conversations were had and entertained—on multiple occasions—by former and current top level executives at Warner Bros. Pictures,” Fisher stated. “Decision-makers that participated in those racist conversations were Geoff Johns, Jon Berg, and current Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich.” Emmerich, Berg, and Johns did not immediately respond for comment.
“I realized that the notes I ended up getting from Johns during reshoots were just a coded version of the racist things he was saying with behind closed doors with the other execs,” Fisher alleged.
“A lot of what these guys were doing was in an effort to prevent themselves from being fired during AT&T’s merger with Time Warner,” Fisher pointed out to Forbes. “I plan getting much more specific about each of these guys after the investigation is over—this interview is just the abridged version,” Fisher further clarified.
While Fisher was already aware of the alleged whitewashing, he didn't become aware of these racist conversations until after he started speaking out.
“These conversations were reported to me by people in the room. And I wasn’t made aware until AFTER I had already spoken out about Joss Whedon.”
“None of what I’m sharing in this interview is news to Warner Bros. HR, nor should it be news to WarnerMedia. I reported almost everything to them back in July—including Emmerich’s involvement,” Fisher said. “The fact that I’m having to advocate for myself in this way is equal parts freeing and frustrating.”
Outside of Fisher, multiple actors of color had their roles completely removed or heavily-reduced in
Justice League.
The role of Ryan Choi, played by Zheng Kai, was cut. Joe Morton, who played Cyborg’s father Silas, had his role mostly cut and reshot. While Zack Snyder included a diverse cast of characters, many of them had roles significantly altered, or disappeared from the film altogether before it arrived in theaters. Karen Bryson, who played Cyborg’s mother Ellinore, had her role cut as well. Additionally, Kiersey Clemons, who played Iris West, was removed from the film. All of them will appear in 2021’s
Zack Snyder’s Justice League. According to representatives for Whedon, these decisions were made prior to his taking control of the project.
A representative for Whedon said; The individual who offered this statement acknowledged that this was just something that he had heard from someone else and accepted as truth, when in fact simple research would prove that it was false. As is standard on almost all films, there were numerous people involved with mixing the final product, including the editor, special effects person, composer, etc. with the senior colorist responsible for the final version's tone, colors, and mood. This process was further complicated on this project by the fact that Zack shot on film, while Joss shot on digital, which required the team, led by the same senior colorist who has worked on previous films for Zack, to reconcile the two.
“I always suspected that race was a determining factor for the way that things went down, but it wasn’t until this past summer that I was able to prove it,” Fisher said of the changes to minority characters.
Fisher outlined how the abusive and unprofessional atmosphere went beyond the racial elements. He claims a toxic and manipulative atmosphere quickly engulfed the
Justice League reshoots.
“Race was just one of the issues with the reshoot process. There were massive blowups, threats, coercion, taunting, unsafe work conditions, belittling, and gaslighting like you wouldn’t believe,” Fisher commented when asked for details.
As for the role Johns had in the abusive environment on set, Fisher didn't mince words on either Whedon or Johns.
“Geoff Johns made a veiled threat to my career during the LA reshoots of
Justice League,” Fisher said. “Multiple sources have informed me, that Joss threatened the career of another person associated with the production. Toby was made aware and tried to cover for Whedon rather than deal with the abuse. That situation had to be escalated to Tsujihara to get any results.”
While some question the legitimacy of his claims, Fisher has made it very clear that they should not.
“These things affected many people across various departments. Warner Bros. Pictures has tried to make it seem as if these issues are mine and mine alone,” Fisher said. “I’ve brought them a number of witnesses that have been avoided and in some cases ghosted during the investigation process. Warner Bros. knows full well my claims are credible. They’re just scrambling.”
The Conversation Between Ray Fisher, Walter Hamada, and WB’s Statement
On September 4th, the Cyborg actor took to Twitter once again to explain how the studio had been handling his dispute thus far. The actor detailed a call between himself and Walter Hamada, president of DC Films. In it, he alleged that Hamada tried to get Fisher to relent on Johns. The tweet sparked Warner Bros. Pictures to put out their first official statement.
In the statement, a studio spokesperson said, “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.”
The studio went on to say that “Mr. Fisher has declined to speak to the investigator” and that Fisher “failed to provide” specific and credible allegations of misconduct.
Fisher, infuriated by the statement, told Forbes that the statement was a double-edged sword that helped him as much as the studio attempted to discredit him.
“The hit piece that Warner Bros. Pictures put out on me on September 4th, was meant to isolate me, but it ended up having the opposite effect,” Fisher said. “More people ended up reaching out and offering their support.
Fisher saw this as a clear pattern of behavior from the studio and made him even more focused on continuing to speak out.
“Warner Bros. Pictures has been receiving a lot of bad press recently for their mishandling of HR and third-party investigations—unfortunately the
Justice League investigation has been no different.”
After
Justice League massively underperformed at the box office, a sizable shift at Warner Bros brass followed, with Geoff Johns and Jon Berg removed from their positions and replaced by Hamada. While Hamada was not present during the production of
Justice League, Fisher went into further detail about his disappointment with the DC Films president regarding the investigation process.
“Walter Hamada chose to insert himself into this situation by trying to throw Joss Whedon and Jon Berg under the bus to protect Geoff Johns,” Fisher reiterated. “He has a long-standing work relationship with Johns and an even longer one with Toby [Emmerich] from their time together at New Line.”
Fisher stressed the connection between Emmerich and Hamada, to explain how deep studio politics go to protect each other.
“Emmerich made Hamada the president of DC Films and Johns is providing content for Hamada to produce. It stands to reason that he would have a vested interest in trying to protect both of them.” Hamada did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fisher cited the statement from Warner Bros. to make his point clearer. After his tweet about Hamada, Fisher used it as a goalpost for how things would have been if he spoke about Emmerich at the time.
“You see what Warner Bros. PR tried to do to me after I alluded to Walter Hamada? Now imagine what would’ve happened if I named the chairman of the company instead of Hamada,” Fisher said. “WB would’ve used every bit of PR power they had to try to stomp me out and protect Emmerich.”
Fisher has not been the only cast member to make his voice heard. On September 14th, Aquaman star Jason Momoa took a strong stand of support with his fellow JL cast member. Momoa took to Instagram, slamming Warner Bros.
“THIS SHIT HAS TO STOP AND NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AT @ray8fisher AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO EXPERIENCED WHAT HAPPEN UNDER THE WATCH OF @wbpictures NEEDS PROPER INVESTIGATION.” Momoa wrote in all-caps.
“I just think it’s fucked up that people released a fake Frosty announcement without my permission to try to distract from Ray Fisher speaking up about the shitty way we were treated on
Justice League reshoots,” Momoa continued. “Serious stuff went down. It needs to be investigated and people need to be held accountable. #IStandWithRayFisher. aloha j”
The Frosty The Snowman remark was a direct reaction to an exclusive by
Deadline where the studio announced Berg and Johns, both directly implicated by Fisher earlier in the day, was working with Momoa to create a live-action adaption of the snowman.
Fisher was grateful to Momoa, and the many caste mates that come to his side, though he wished he could have handle the situation privately, without impacting them or their careers.
“Jason really came through when he denounced that fake Frosty the Snowman news. I know that had to have shaken them up.”
Fisher continued; “a lot of folks from the cast and crew reached out to show their support, some expected and some less so. I’ve tried my best to handle things privately and to let HR process play, but the only thing that seems to move the needle has been me applying pressure publicly.”
Where Ray Fisher Stands in WarnerMedia’s Investigation
Fisher revealed one of the biggest challenges has been getting WarnerMedia to conduct a fair and impartial investigation, something that has taken much of Fisher’s time to achieve.
“My team and I have been informed that the third-party firm that was originally brought on to investigate
Justice League has withdrawn from the case,” Fisher began.
“WarnerMedia has since informed me and my team that the old investigator purposely lied to us about the investigation. We’ve asked WarnerMedia to relay this information to the public and to retract Warner Bros.’ September 4th hit piece on me so we can clear the air and get the investigation back on track. They’ve refused to do so...so here we are...”
With the original investigator withdrawn, Fisher is optimistic that the new investigator will perform their duties impartially.
“The new investigator that WarnerMedia has brought on is the same one that did the final Kevin Tsujihara investigation before he was taken down,” Fisher explained.
Fisher went on to further clarify that he is not alone, and how the participation of old friends and newcomers came together for a single purpose, accountability.
“I’ve got a lot of witnesses that are willing to be interviewed, they’re just waiting on my go-ahead that it’s safe to do so,” Fisher said.
Outside of witnesses, Fisher has the backing of The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
“SAG-AFTRA has been a part of just about every conversation we’ve had with WarnerMedia and has been pushing to get them to do the right thing.”
Despite the myriad challenges in his way, Fisher remains hopeful, yet cautious about his road ahead.
“In a business as notoriously litigious as Hollywood, the fact that I haven’t received so much as a cease and desist letter should tell you something,” Fisher calmly stated. “The people involved know I’m telling the truth. They’re just looking for a way to mitigate blowback for themselves.”
“WarnerMedia knows I don’t have the financial ability to stand up to them in court,” Fisher continued. “Emmerich, Whedon, and the other guys probably do. My guess is that WarnerMedia is looking for the lesser of two lawsuits.”
Fisher knew the responsibility on his shoulders was massive. Not only is his career at risk, but those who have joined his efforts and are participating in the investigation are at risk as well, Fisher claims. Fisher made it a personal mission to shield them.
“The people that have shared their stories with me have put themselves at great risk, both personally and professionally. I will protect them at any cost,” Fisher said. “Hollywood is one of the most retaliatory businesses in the world. One word of you being “difficult” or “uncooperative” could be the end of your career, especially if you’re black.”
Fisher fully realized that there are people out there that don’t believe him. Whether it's because they're fans of Johns and Whedon’s work, they take the studio's word over his, or they simply don’t understand the full story. To them, Fisher had frank words.
“You really have to ask yourself, what’s more plausible—that I would purposely torpedo my career by making statements about powerful figures in Hollywood, that, if untrue, could be easily refuted. OR a handful people in positions of power said and did terrible things in order to maintain that power during a massive corporate merger.”
While Fisher was candid about his frustration with the studio, he was still clear that he’s not at war with the entire studio.
“I’m not in a fight with Warner Bros.” Fisher sighed. “I’m in a fight with a handful of people that are attempting to use Warner Bros. to cover their tracks. All the significant film and tv work I’ve done has been under the WarnerMedia banner. I love what I do and who I’ve been blessed to do it with.”
To Fisher, the most important thing is making sure accountability is carried to all parties involved, and not just the easier targets in the investigation.
“Regardless of how I feel about the folks involved, I’m not interested in people being allowed to dog-pile and scapegoat easy targets.”
As for his end goal, Fisher expressed the point of all the blood, sweat, and tears.
“My goal is to have these people not be decision makers for the content that influences our world,” Fisher began. “These guys have been in Hollywood a long time. Their problematic behavior didn’t start with the AT&T merger, but I’ll be dammed if it doesn’t end with it.”
Fisher ends most of his tweets these days with "Accountability > Entertainment," and it's clearly a guiding principle behind his actions, risks be damned.
“I’m not worried about the consequences. I’m well aware of what’s at stake. If people don’t want to work with me because I’m refusing to tolerate abusive behavior and the coverup culture of old Hollywood, then so be it.” Fisher said.
“If nothing else, I’m going to go out of this business the way I came in; free and of my own volition. Can you dig that?”
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