WarnerMedia CEO Disputes Many Of Ray Fisher's Claims; Says Joss Whedon's Cuts Were Not Racially Motivated

WarnerMedia CEO Disputes Many Of Ray Fisher's Claims; Says Joss Whedon's Cuts Were Not Racially Motivated

WarnerMedia CEO Ann Sarnoff has disputed many of Justice League star Ray Fisher's claims, elaborating on the findings of that investigation and the allegations levelled at DC Films boss Walter Hamada.

By JoshWilding - Mar 22, 2021 01:03 PM EST
Filed Under: Justice League
Source: Variety

Zack Snyder's Justice League star Ray Fisher has made a series of vague (but specific) claims about how he was treated on the set of Joss Whedon's reshoots back in 2017. WarnerMedia's investigation into the matter has concluded, but Fisher isn't letting it go; recently, he's taken aim at DC Films boss Walter Hamada instead of Whedon and producers Geoff Johns and Jon Berg.

WarnerMedia CEO Ann Sarnoff weighed in on the matter during a recent interview with Variety, and the trade straight up asked whether the investigation corroborated any of Fisher's racism claims.

"No. Our investigator, Judge Katherine Forrest, has issued statements specifically about [DC Films president] Walter Hamada, saying that there was no evidence of interference by Walter in the investigation," Sarnoff explains. "She said that the cuts made in the Joss Whedon version of 'Justice League' were not racially motivated. We took it very seriously, so we hired one of the top investigators out there and gave her a tremendous amount of leeway."

Asked about Fisher's claims that a non-disclosure agreement has stopped him from sharing specifics about what happened on the set of Justice League are accurate, the CEO responded: "Not that I know of. No." She also went on to clarify that Hamada had zero involvement with the 2017 movie.

"About a year ago, Walter, [Warner Bros. Pictures Group head] Toby Emmerich, me, [former WarnerMedia chairman] Bob Greenblatt, [former HBO Max content chief] Kevin Reilly, and [HBO Max original programming head] Sarah Aubrey sat around the table with Zack and greenlit the Snyder cut," Sarnoff said. "That cut includes Ray Fisher’s entire story as Cyborg, which is something that he had been disappointed had been cut from the Justice League movie three years ago. Perhaps we’ve lost the plot a little bit which is that Toby and Walter were part of the green-lighting that allowed Zack’s vision to come to life, which includes sharing the full story about Ray’s character. There really was nothing that Walter did against Ray, in fact he offered him a role in the Flash movie."

Of course, Fisher's issues relate more to what Hamada has done in recent months; for example, allegations that he attempted to cover up what Johns did on Justice League in order to protect the producer. The actor has since said he'll never work with the DC Films boss, hence his removal from The Flash.

We're expecting Fisher to respond to these comments shortly...

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DalekCraigWasson
DalekCraigWasson - 3/22/2021, 1:08 PM
*takes a shot* Comment section: buckle up.
aresww3
aresww3 - 3/22/2021, 1:26 PM
@DalekCraigWasson -
emvshah
emvshah - 3/23/2021, 1:00 AM
@aresww3 - This whole thing feels like a Burn After Reading sequel...
inkniron
inkniron - 3/22/2021, 1:09 PM
Oh, Yay Bitcher will definitely have a response. It'll probably be like his restored role in JL, lack luster.
BigMikeReviews
BigMikeReviews - 3/22/2021, 1:24 PM
@inkniron - WB and Ray Fisher:

dracula
dracula - 3/22/2021, 1:09 PM
I believe it.

Movie had to be cut to 2 hours.

Most people went to see Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

Also the team interacting is more important than stuff like a random scientist and The Flash's girlfriend.
Origame
Origame - 3/22/2021, 1:24 PM
@dracula - it's easy to see anything as racist if you're trying to find it that way.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 3/22/2021, 1:25 PM
@dracula - I agree. In watching the Snyder cut, I can't believe they let him overshoot that much knowing it would need to be cut down to 2 hours. There was a lot that didn't need to be there.

However, I think adding some of the Cyborg stuff while removing the family subplot would have worked out well. There are a lot of questionable items in here still, things like Superman trying to kill the league because "he doesn't remember who he is." I'm sorry, but people with amnesia don't wake up mass murderers.

WB should have stepped in way earlier to keep this from going off the rails in the first place.
dracula
dracula - 3/22/2021, 1:26 PM
@Origame - so true, if someone is an asshole to someone of a different race, they will probably be called racist nowadays.
JonC
JonC - 3/22/2021, 1:37 PM
@Itwasme - yep, Zack knew what he what he was doing...shooting a lot of extra footage that cost millions and extended the shoot time... only to have it rejected by WB as it was going to have too long of a runtime in the theaters... this is fully on Zack... he took the job and disregarded what was to be delivered... if Ray has anything to bitch about it should be Zack misleading him that it was all going to be in the original release.
Zack actually commented in a prior post that he thought WB was 'joking' in that it couldn't be 3+ hrs long... what an idiot...
The full reason this crashed and burned in the first place is Zack thought he was god and could do what he wanted and as a result everyone else had to pay the price... from having whole sections cut to make it a reasonable runtime... to that re-edit having little time or money to finish the revised storyline and everyone being under high stress (replacement director and actors) to complete it on time. It all fully falls on Zack 100%.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 3/22/2021, 1:51 PM
@JonC - Spot on. I make the point later that this is his movie right? His cut of his vision. So instead of creating a more streamlined 3 hour version, he shows everything. He even adds new things.

There's a better movie in this cut (albeit still with issues), and given the chance to put it out there he still ops to include everything.
NegativeNerd
NegativeNerd - 3/22/2021, 2:22 PM
Yeah, sure you do.

Funny how all the people of color’s role was either cut short, or completely.
RageDriver2401
RageDriver2401 - 3/22/2021, 1:09 PM
"Needless to say, we're expecting Fisher to respond to these comments shortly..."

RageDriver2401
RageDriver2401 - 3/22/2021, 1:17 PM
Although, I'm willing to bet Fisher will slowly phase out his crusade now that the SC has released.
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