Ray Fisher shared new details regarding the racism allegations levied at Geoff Johns, Toby Emmerich and Jon Berg stemming from the Joss Whedon-led Justice League reshoots.In a lengthy statement, Fisher recounted much of what he's already shared about Johns, Emmerich and Berg, including that he wasn't aware of the situation during the 2017 reshoots and only learned of it in the summer of 2020. However, new details include "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." He also noted Johns said, "we can't have an angry Black man at the center of the movie," which allegedly prompted Warner Bros. to reduce the roles of all characters of color -- something he touched on in October 2020.
In June 2020, Fisher retracted the praise he gave Joss Whedon -- the man who replaced director Zack Snyder on Justice League -- and days later, he tweeted that "[Whedon's] on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable." In that same tweet, he called out former DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns and former DC Films executive Jon Berg, whom he dubbed Whedon's enablers. He then doubled down on this sentiment in late July, writing, "I understand full well the [personal] and professional risks associated with my speaking out against the abhorrent behavior of Joss Whedon and his enablers — Geoff Johns and Jon Berg."
Weeks later, Warner Bros. launched an investigation into Fisher's claims. However, the studio announced that Fisher was not cooperating with the investigator it hired to look into the matter and that he failed to provide evidence to back up his claims. It also denied the actor's later allegation that DC Films President Walter Hamada asked Fisher to relent on Johns and focus solely on Berg and Whedon. In response, Fisher called for a third-party investigation. That investigation concluded in early December 2020, with WarnerMedia stating that "remedial action" had been taken.
Things ramped up again when a report surfaced claiming Fisher would no longer appear as Cyborg in The Flash. Fisher responded that he "did not publicly step down from anything," though he did note on Dec. 30 that he "will not participate in any production associated" with Hamada, who is responsible for The Flash.
As for the investigation, WarnerMedia issued a statement in January, saying, "The [Justice League] investigation was conducted by an outside law firm and led by a former federal judge. More than 80 people were interviewed. We have full confidence in its thoroughness and integrity, and remedial action has been taken. The investigation has concluded, and it is time to move on."
More recently, Fisher tweeted that Hamada still owed an apology to those who participated in the Justice League investigation, which he reaffirmed in his newest statement.
Fisher's next appearance as Cyborg will be in Zack Snyder's Justice League.
Zack Snyder's Justice League stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Ray Porter as Darkseid, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. The film arrives on HBO Max March 18.
Source: Twitter