It's no secret that the tumultuous production history of Justice League has been well-documented over the years, but a good chunk of the spotlight was mainly focused on Ray Fisher's allegations towards Joss Whedon and several executives from DC and Warner Bros. In the past months, the Cyborg star has been at the forefront of an investigation around workplace harassment, and it looks like this issue will not end anytime soon.
For context, this debacle started when Fisher first retracted “every bit” of his praise towards Whedon. After that, pieces have started to fall, slowly unraveling what really transpired during the reshoots of the 2017 superhero team-up film. This includes the likes of scathing remarks from the actor all the way to the launch of an official investigation regarding the matter.
Now, another piece in the puzzle has emerged, with Fisher revealing numerous bits of information against Warner Bros.
RAY FISHER ADDRESSES RACIST REMARKS FROM DC PRODUCERS
In a tweet, Ray Fisher shared another statement regarding the issue surrounding the troubled reshoots of 2017's Justice League .
First, Fisher claimed that “racially discriminatory conversations were had and entertained-on multiple occasions” by several Warner Bros. executives:
"Prior to the Justice League reshoots of 2017, racially discriminatory conversations were had and entertained-on multiple occasions-by Warner Bros. Pictures executives: Toby Emmerich, Geoff Johns, and Jon Berg. Had I been aware of those conversations in realtime, I would have addressed them in realtime. However, it wasn't until the summer of 2020 that individuals who were in those meetings felt comfortable sharing with me what they had witnessed firsthand."
The DCEU star then addressed those racist remarks, admitting that those executives “are no longer entitled to any benefit [of the doubt]” while also citing that it was “unacceptable:”
"When it comes to matters involving race, I always try to give the benefit of the doubt to those who may be ignorant of their own biases. But when you have studio executives (particularly Geoff Johns) saying, "we can't have an angry Black man at the center of the movie" – and then those executives use their power to reduce and remove ALL Black people from that movie- they are no longer entitled to any benefit associated with doubt.Toby, Geoff, and Jon were not ignorant of their biases. They understood full well that the racist rhetoric they chose to entertain in those meetings was offensive, discriminatory, and unacceptable."
Fisher also unveiled a new tidbit by sharing that they forced a scene to be reshot “so they could highlight the existence of Cyborg's penis:”
"Furthermore, they dared not speak those things to me, nor any other Black person associated with the film. Instead, they chose the cowardly route of gaslighting- complete with extremely problematic requests such as asking me to “play Cyborg like Quasimodo"; and forcing a scene to be reshot so they could highlight the existence of Cyborg's penis. Unfortunately, those were just some of the issues. We now know that the leadership at Warner Bros. Pictures lied to the cast and crew of Justice League (and to the world) about Zack Snyder picking Joss Whedon to finish the film."
Fisher also strongly believed that the "truth will continue to reveal itself" while also pointing out that Zack Snyder's Justice League "stands as proof of, and opposition, to that discrimination:"
"The truth will continue to reveal itself. And as it does, there will likely be attempts to shift blame completely onto Kevin Tsujihara and Joss Whedon. But make no mistake, Geoff Johns worked intimately with Joss to overhaul the entire Justice League script. And while Geoff was not credited as a co-writer of the film, he was certainly an enforcer of the race-based discrimination that occurred during his conversations with Toby and Jon. Zack Snyder's Justice League stands as proof of, and opposition to, that discrimination."
On a final note, Fisher expressed his gratitude towards the participants of the Justice League investigation:
"I am indebted to the participants of the Justice League investigation. They have put themselves at great risk to share the truth. I owe it to them; I owe it to my peers in this industry; and I owe it to all Black people to stay the course."
Onward.Gratefully,
RayA>E
PS - Walter Hamada owes an apology to all the participants of the Justice League
investigation."It doesn't matter how strong your opinions are. If you don't use your power for positive
change, you are, indeed, part of the problem."
- Coretta Scott King
The full tweet and statement can be seen below.
Please Read. A>E pic.twitter.com/C6PjkBLlDE
A NEW CHAPTER IN FISHER'S FIGHT FOR JUSTICE
At this point, one thing is clear: Ray Fisher will not back down against Warner Bros. If proven true, this latest development is a concerning one for the studio, especially considering the sensitive matter surrounding the topics around racial discrimination. On top of that, these remarks from Fisher also show that the fight is not yet over, and there are other parts that have yet to be unveiled.
A key takeaway from Fisher's statement was the fact that the executives forced a scene to be reshot so they could “highlight the existence of Cyborg's penis.” Interestingly, this isn't the first time that this was requested in a production led by Joss Whedon.
In a previous interview, Paul Bettany shared that Whedon initially wanted to reveal Vision having a penis as he was brought to life by Tony Stark from Avengers: Age of Ultron, but the idea was ultimately scrapped by the director himself because he admitted that he was “100% wrong.” On the DC side of things, it's unknown who specifically requested to highlight Cyborg's private parts, but many would agree that this is a prime example of the troubled production history of the film.
The back-and-forth between Fisher and Warner Bros. seems to not be coming to an end, and it's hard to know what will happen next. Still, the actor is adamant for the truth to be unveiled in any way possible, and that should bode well for crew members who took part in the investigation.
