Joss Whedon has broken his silence on allegations of misconduct on the set of League of Justice.
In 2020, Fisher, who played Cyborg in Whedon’s League of Justice, alleged the director engaged in “rude, abusive, unprofessional and completely unacceptable” behavior on the set of the 2017 film.
Fisher shared archive video of himself calling Whedon a “great guy,” writing, “I would like to take a moment to strongly retract every part of this statement.” It was also claimed that it lightened Fisher’s skin tone during editing.
His allegations prompted a WarnerMedia investigation into Whedon’s behavior, involving many actors who worked with the director in the past, including Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot, interviewed by officials.
Whedon did not initially comment on Fisher’s allegations. However, on Monday (Jan 17), he denounced the claims in a new interview with New York Magazine.
He described the claims as “untrue and unfair” and said he made Cyborg’s role in the film smaller because his story “didn’t make sense”. He states that test screening audiences found the character of Cyborg to be “the worst” in the film.
Whedon alleged that his conversation with Fisher about the situation was “friendly and respectful” and lasted “hours.”
Of Fisher’s accusations, the director said, “We’re talking about a malevolent force. We are talking about a bad actor in both senses.”
Ray Fisher as Cyborg, a Justice League character
(Warner Bros Pictures)
As a result of the interview, the phrase I Stand with Ray Fisher began to trend on Twitter. It was this phrase that led to several buffy the vampire slayer actors, including the charismatic Carpenter, to share their own accusations about Whedon.
Elsewhere, Whedon also called an alleged incident, previously recounted by Israeli Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot, a “misunderstanding” as “English is not her first language.”
However, in response to this comment, Gadot told the outlet that she understood Whedon “perfectly well.”