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Ray Fisher vs. Warner: What’s Going On?

Robert Slavinsky 0 Comments , , ,

For those who haven’t seen, over the past few months Cyborg actor, Ray Fisher, has been outspoken on the mistreatment he and others experienced on the set of 2017’s Justice League after Zack Snyder’s departure. During the first two months, very little was said in response by Warner or anyone attached. With the exception of a small response from producer Jon Berg in early July.

Since the first couple tweets by Fisher more information has been finding its way out into the public. But lets first take a look at what got this entire thing started.

On June 29th Ray Fisher tweeted this out requesting that he forcefully retract ever bit of a statement he made during the press rounds of 2017’s Justice League. While fans of Zack Snyder had already been discovering the many lies WB made during the build up to the release of the 2017 film. This was the first time an actor came out and stated that not everything behind the scenes was butterflies and roses.

Just a couple days later, on July 1st, Ray Fisher tweeted yet again and called out Joss Whedon, Geoff Johns and Jon Berg stating the on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.”

This is when Jon Berg . Per Variety.com Berg stated what was said was  “categorically untrue that we enabled any unprofessional behavior…. I remember [Fisher] being upset that we wanted him to say ‘Booyaa,’ which is a well known saying of Cyborg in the animated series,” Berg added.

A very sad attempted to discredit Fisher but hardly a denial that any unacceptable behavior went on during the shoot.

Since those remarks, Ray has been speaking out only regularly on Twitch and Instagram videos as well as Twitter. On August 12th he revealed a bit more about the way Geoff Johns treated him.

Then just a few days prior to DC FanDome he tweeted the following. A victory that appeared to be short lived.

As September rolled around Ray revealed that he had a telephone conversation with the President of DC Film, Walter Hamada that didn’t go as well as we would all have hoped it would.

At this point a response by Warner was inevitable. And just like clock work, not even 24 hours later we got a response from a Warner Bros. spokesperson.

“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.”

As expected Ray responded via twitter to prove what Warner Bros. had stated was not factually true in regards to their attempt at discrediting Fisher.

On 9/6/2020 Fisher posted a Video online where he talks a bit more on the phone call he and Hamada had in regards to the situation. According to Ray this is what was said.

“[Walter Hamada] and I talked in great detail about Joss Whedon. We talked in great detail about Geoff Johns. We talked in great detail about Jon Berg. And his excuse for the situation with Geoff Johns was, ‘Well, Ray, I worked with Geoff on Shazam!, I don’t really think he would do that sort of stuff or be that sort of…’

And I go, ‘Walter, you weren’t there. I’m telling you, you weren’t. You were not there when the man used back-channel communication to call me into his office and made the veiled threat to my career. You weren’t there for that.’

I said, ‘You weren’t there when Geoff Johns contacted me in 2018, a year and a half after Justice League, while I was shooting True Detective to gloat, using back-channel communications, to gloat that there would be another Cyborg being used in the DC Universe in a show that he was producing.’ I said, ‘Walter, you weren’t there for those things. You can’t tell me about it.’

And so finally when we got to the heart of all that stuff, and I realized that clearly this is a situation we’re in – Walter was attempting to protect Geoff Johns because of his continued business partnerships. Such as Wonder Woman 1984. Such as whatever other projects that they may having coming down the pipeline – I ended up saying, ‘Listen, this is just what I need.’ And so when he wanted more specifics about what was said and who said it, I refused to give him such specifics. I said, ‘Walter, this is sensitive information.’ I said, ‘The people that have stories to tell need to be protected, and so he did not escalate the situation.”

“I received a phone call from the head of HR, the vice-president of HR, and the vice-president of labor relations from Warner Bros., I had a two-hour initial conversation with them where I detailed beat for beat, gave them names of people they should interview, all of these things. The fact is I have so many details that I can put to these stories, and I am willing to do it face-to-face.”

There is plenty more within the video, which you can watch below

I think at this point it is important to understand that this is going to be a HUGE deal in Hollywood if this gets the due process that it should.

There are big things afoot within Hollywood, this is only the beginning of what we will most likely be seeing and hearing in regards to those who have been mistreated and disrespected. I commend all of you who are standing with Ray, #IStandWithRayFisher, but let’s not think that it ends with him. There are so many others who have been affected by this. He is just the voice out there right now making sure he is heard.

Now with John Boyega speaking out on Disney it seems like the snowball is just starting to roll down the hill.

#WeStandWithAllOfYou

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