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.”
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?”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sheraz...tigation-and-erasing-characters-of-color/amp/
CLIFFS:
- Fisher says there were multiple blatantly racist conversations made by Geoff Johns, Jon Berg, and current WB Pictures chairman Toby Emmerich.
- Fisher realized that the notes he 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 suspected that race was a determining factor why multiple actors of color in Justice League had their roles completely removed or heavily-reduced.
- Fisher claims during the reshoots there were massive blowups, threats, coercion, taunting, unsafe work conditions, belittling, and gaslighting.
- Fisher reveals he brought WB a number of witnesses that have been avoided and in some cases ghosted during the investigation process.
- Fisher says the hit piece that WB put out on Sept. 4 was meant to isolate me, but it ended up having the opposite effect and more people offering their support.
- Fisher deduces Emmerich made Hamada the president of DC Films and Johns is providing content for Hamada to produce and that's why Hamada wants protect both of them.
Fisher says he has a lot of witnesses that are willing to be interviewed, they’re just waiting on his go-ahead that it’s safe to do so.
Fisher clarifies that he is not in a fight with Warner Bros. but only with a handful of people that are attempting to use Warner Bros. to cover their tracks.
(This will be merged with the official thread after a while.)
