Justice League's Ray Fisher responds to Warner Bros. statement: 'I'm ready to meet the challenge'

Following actor Ray Fisher's recent comments regarding WarnerMedia's investigation into the alleged on-set behavior of director Joss Whedon, and producers Geoff Johns and Jon Berg during the filming of Justice League, Warner Bros. — the studio behind the film — has released a statement.

Fisher tweeted Friday, "So you can better understand how deep this goes: After speaking out about Justice League, I received a phone call from the President of DC Films wherein he attempted to throw Joss Whedon and Jon Berg under the bus in hopes that I would relent on Geoff Johns. I will not." 

This is the latest comment from the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice actor in regard to the investigation that was launched after he first criticized the "toxic and abusive work environment" that was present on the set of the Justice League reshoots, for which Whedon was brought in, following original director Zack Snyder's departure from the project due to a family tragedy.

However, as Variety reports, Warner Bros. has now released a statement countering Fisher's claim regarding his conversation with DC Films President Walter Hamada, before going on to state that despite the studio having brought in a third-party independent investigator to look into what happened, Fisher "has declined to speak" to them.

You can read the full statement below: 

In July, Ray Fisher’s representatives asked DC Films President Walter Hamada to talk to Mr. Fisher about his concerns during the production of “Justice League.” The two had previously spoken when Mr. Hamada asked him to reprise his role as Cyborg in Warner Bros.’ upcoming Flash movie, together with other members of the Justice League. In their July conversation, Mr. Fisher recounted disagreements he’d had with the film’s creative team regarding his portrayal of Cyborg, and complained that his suggested script revisions were not adopted. Mr. Hamada explained that creative differences are a normal part of the production process, and that a film’s writer/director ultimately has to be in charge of these matters. Notably, Mr. Hamada also told Mr. Fisher that he would elevate his concerns to WarnerMedia so they could conduct an investigation. At no time did Mr. Hamada ever “throw anyone under the bus,” as Mr. Fisher has falsely claimed, or render any judgments about the “Justice League” production, in which Mr. Hamada had no involvement, since filming occurred before Mr. Hamada was elevated to his current position.

While Mr. Fisher never alleged any actionable misconduct against him, WarnerMedia nonetheless initiated an investigation into the concerns he’d raised about his character’s portrayal. Still not satisfied, Mr. Fisher insisted that WarnerMedia hire an independent third party investigator. This investigator has attempted multiple times to meet with Mr. Fisher to discuss his concerns but, to date, Mr. Fisher has declined to speak to the investigator. Warner Bros. remains committed to accountability and to the well-being of every cast and crew member on each of its productions. It also remains committed to investigating any specific and credible allegation of misconduct, which thus far Mr. Fisher has failed to provide.

Fisher has since responded to the statement, taking to Twitter on Saturday to call out Warner Bros. Pictures, the company he believes hired the investigator, as per the copy of the email he'd attached to one of his tweets.

The actor tweeted: "Thank you all for the support and for seeing through Warner Bros. Pictures' desperate and scattershot attempt to discredit me to continue protecting those in power. I met with the investigator via Zoom on Aug. 26th. Below is an email I sent to my team and SAG-AFTRA immediately after."

In the email, which you can see in the tweet below, Fisher notes that not only did he end the meeting with the third-party investigator early, but he felt that investigator's findings would go straight to Warner Bros. Pictures, instead of WarnerMedia, who'd said they'd be the ones conducting it. Fisher also states that the investigator had had another person on the call as a witness, and that he himself had asked if he could have his own representative on the call as well, as a form of security. 

He then followed up with a second tweet, saying: "It’s also worth noting that I made it clear to the world on Aug. 21st that I would be vetting the investigator to ensure a fair and protected process for all witnesses. Warner Bros. Pictures has escalated this to an entirely different level, but I’m ready to meet the challenge."

He also posted a video along with the tweet, one that was recorded on Aug. 21, the same date that he'd mentioned in the tweet, and one day after he'd first announced that WarnerMedia would be launching this investigation.

In the video, Fisher goes over the importance of his vetting the aforementioned third-party investigators: "Even with those things you need to make sure that the folks that you're dealing with are on the level, because at the end of the day those people are being paid by somebody, and finding out who's paying them and how all that stuff is being sorted out is extremely important. You gotta do your due diligence. You gotta fact check. You can't just take those things on face value."

He goes on to add: "I appreciate the support. Just know, ya boy is just going to keep trying to fight the good fight. And as I've said in the past, if this is the only thing I'm blessed to do, if this impacts my career in any way, I'm glad that I was able to stand up for what I believe in."