Justice League star Ray Fisher has accused “top-level” Warner Bros. executives of engaging in “blatantly racist conversations” about his accusations of abusive treatment by director Joss Whedon on the set of the 2017 superhero film.
“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 told Forbes magazine in an interview published on Thursday.
For the first time, Fisher has named Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich with his latest accusations. “Decision-makers that participated in those racist conversations were Geoff Johns, Jon Berg, and current Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich,” Fisher said.
The “Cyborg” actor did not clarify if he heard these conversations himself or learned about them second hand. “The erasure of people of color from the 2017 theatrical version of Justice League was neither an accident nor coincidence,” Fisher exclaimed.
The actor, who’s short resume includes the HBO TV series True Detective, and The Astronaut Wives Club, also claimed that Justice League director Joss Whedon ordered the special effects department to lighten the skin color of a minority cast member.
“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 said.
Fisher also claims that several of the minority cast members — including Joe Morton, Ryan Choi, Karen Bryson, and Kiersey Clemons — had their roles reduced because of their race.
“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,” the actor insisted.
Fisher began leveling his accusations in July with a tweet accusing director Whedon of fostering “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable” behavior on the movie’s set of the superhero epic.
Joss Wheadon’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
— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) July 1, 2020
By August, the studio said that it was taking Fisher’s accusations seriously and had launched an official investigation into his charges. But the studio also insisted that Fisher was not helping them very much to ascertain the facts.
At least one other Justice League star, Aquaman star Jason Mamoa, has come out in support of Fisher and seemed to confirm the accusations of an abusive atmosphere on the set.
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