WarnerMedia has launched an investigation into director Joss Whedon after actor Ray Fisher publicly accused him of being abusive on the set of “Justice League.”
Joss Whedon was brought on to oversee reshoots and post-production for “Justice League” after a personal tragedy forced director Zack Snyder to temporarily exit the project. According to Ray Fisher, who played the role of Cyborg, Whedon’s behavior on set was “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.”
“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,” Fisher tweeted in early July.
“During the LA reshoots for Justice League, Geoff Johns summoned me to his office to belittle and admonish my (and my agent’s) attempts to take grievances up the proper chain of command. He then made a thinly veiled threat to my career. This behavior cannot continue,” he then tweeted in August.
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
During the LA reshoots for Justice League, Geoff Johns summoned me to his office to belittle and admonish my (and my agent’s) attempts to take grievances up the proper chain of command.
He then made a thinly veiled threat to my career.
This behavior cannot continue.
A>E
— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) August 12, 2020
Fisher has expressed confidence that the investigation will show that the individuals named behaved inappropriately.
“I believe this investigation will show that Geoff Johns, Joss Whedon, Jon Berg (and others) grossly abused their power during the uncertainty of AT&T’s merger with Time Warner,” Fisher wrote.
According to IndieWire, WarnerMedia emphasized that the investigation into Whedon, Johns, and Berg has not yet yielded any results, nor have they been judged.
“Citing an unnamed source, Variety reported that WarnerMedia’s investigation has not yet come to any findings, nor is there a specific timeline for the investigation,” reported IndieWire. “The source stressed that, despite Fisher’s accusations, the company’s investigation has not prejudged Whedon, Johns, or Berg, nor is the investigation limited to just them.”
“News of WarnerMedia’s investigation into the ‘Justice League’ production arrives just days before Zack Snyder is set to unveil new footage from his director’s cut of ‘Justice League’ at the company’s virtual DC FanDome event,” the report continued. “WarnerMedia will be releasing the ‘Justice League’ Snyder cut [in] 2021 through its new streaming service HBO Max.”
Joss Whedon positioned himself as an anti-Trump activist during the early days of Trump’s presidency, going so far as to openly wish that he “just die.”
“Donald trump is killing this country. Some of it quickly, some slowly, but he spoils and destroys everything he touches. He emboldens monsters, wielding guns, governmental power, or just smug doublespeak. Or Russia. My hate and sadness are exhausting. Die, Don. Just quietly die,” he tweeted in 2018.
Before that, he had joked about wanting to see former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan get raped by a rhino’s horn.
“Violence solves nothing. I want a rhino to f*** @SpeakerRyan to death with its horn because it’s FUNNY, not because he’s a #GOPmurderbro,” he tweeted in 2017.
Whedon has also publicly compared White House advisor Ivanka Trump to a dog.
Though Whedon labels himself a feminist, his ex-wife accused him in 2017 of cheating on her multiple times and paying an inappropriate amount of attention to the women he worked with.
“There were times in our relationship that I was uncomfortable with the attention Joss paid other women,” she wrote. “He always had a lot of female friends, but he told me it was because his mother raised him as a feminist, so he just liked women better. He said he admired and respected females, he didn’t lust after them. I believed him and trusted him. On the set of ‘Buffy,’ Joss decided to have his first secret affair.”
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