Ray Fisher is done being cryptic about what he experienced on Justice League
After months of competing tweets and statements between Ray Fisher and WarnerMedia executives, the actor is opening up about his experiences with Joss Whedon and studio executives on Justice League following Zack Snyder’s exit in 2017. In a tweet from July 2020, Fisher called out Whedon—who replaced Snyder as director—for “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable” behavior. That tweet was just the beginning. In the months that followed, Warner Media conducted an internal investigation based on Fisher’s claims, while some of his Justice League co-stars voiced support for the actor, who played Cyborg in the film. Now, THR has published a lengthy story on Fisher, in which he offers a thorough account of his allegations against Whedon and studio executives, including Geoff Johns, Walter Hamada, and Jon Berg. For its part, WarnerMedia says it has “complete confidence in the investigation process,” as well as the conclusions reached by investigator Katherine Forrest, who told THR she interviewed over 80 witnesses and found “no credible support for claims of racial animus.”
The exhaustive new report includes troubling details—some of which Fisher alluded to in late March on Twitter—such as a conversation between former DC Films co-chairman Jon Berg and Warner studio head Toby Emmerich, during which a witness claims the pair expressed concern over having an “angry Black man” at the center of Justice League. Fisher says that once Whedon came on board to complete the film, his own concerns about representation—particularly because he was portraying the first Black superhero in a live-action DC movie—were dismissed, even after the director asked the cast for feedback on script changes. Another conflict arose when the studio became insistent on Fisher saying “booyah” in the film—a catchphrase often used by Cyborg in the animated series Teen Titans. Fisher felt uncomfortable, given that this was not something the character ever said in the comics or in Snyder’s script; that discomfort was compounded by the fact that none of his co-stars had catchphrases. The actor says this made him think of Black actors like Gary Coleman and Jimmie Walker, who became synonymous with the catchphrases of their TV counterparts.