Warner Bros. is pushing back against Ruby Rose’s allegations that the working conditions at Batwoman were dangerously toxic.
The studio said in a statement to The Wrap following Rose’s Instagram-published statements taking the Internet by storm:
“Despite the revisionist history that Ruby Rose is now sharing online aimed at the producers, the cast and crew, the network, and the Studio, the truth is that Warner Bros. Television had decided not to exercise its option to engage Ruby for season two of ‘Batwoman’ based on multiple complaints about workplace behavior that were extensively reviewed and handled privately out of respect for all concerned.”
It is also being reported that an individual with knowledge of Rose’s exit says that investigations into these complaints went on for months before Warner Bros. TV chose not to pick up her option for Season 2.
Actor Dougray Scott, who played Jacob Kane on Batwoman, also told The Wrap, “As Warner Bros. Television has stated, they decided not to exercise the option to engage Ruby for season two of ‘Batwoman’ based on multiple complaints about her workplace behaviour. I absolutely and completely refute the defamatory and damaging claims made against me by her; they are entirely made up and never happened.”
Rose had alleged that Dougray “hurt a female stunt double, he yelled like a little bitch at women and was a nightmare.”
Rose continued of her co-star, claiming, “He left when he wanted and arrived when he wanted. He abused women and in turn as a lead of a show I sent an email asking for a no-yelling policy. They declined.”
Vampire Diaries co-creator and showrunner Julie Plec, who mentored showrunner Batwoman Caroline Dries, dipped her toe into the discussion on Twitter.
Have written and deleted ten tweets in response to something I just read in the news. Am settling for an EYE ROLL subtweet and will leave it at that. smdh
— Julie Plec (@julieplec) October 20, 2021
The quote retweets calling out Plec for her racist writing did not exactly turn the conversation in Plec’s favor. If anything, it only highlighted that even if Ruby Rose was let go due to her behavior, that does not erase the fact that the workplace could also have been awful. In fact, nothing in the WB statement refutes in full the allegations that matter—mainly that Rose contends she was being forced to work in really inhumane conditions.
Back in 2017, K.J Apa, one of the stars of Riverdale, got into a late-night car crash after a 16-hour workday outside Vancouver, when he was making the 45-minute car ride home. He fell asleep at the wheel because he was so tired and it has prompted the cast and crew of the hit CW show to demand better safety protection during production.
“They’re working these kids from morning until night,” one person familiar with the production and the circumstances of Apa’s accident shared with THR. “Someone’s going to die.”
Vincent Kartheiser, who has been playing the Scarecrow on Titans, was accused of “disruptive, juvenile behavior and inappropriate comments” and was subject to an investigation. While he wasn’t allowed to be on the publicity tour, that really seems to be the extent of his punishment.
Ruby Rose has a messy reputation, but them not being a saint doesn’t mean that Warner Bros. doesn’t have work to do in terms of making sure their workspaces are a safe place for cast and crew. We already have seen how they’ve repeatedly failed WOC/BIPOC folks, so you don’t need to be Team Ruby Rose to understand this is a systematic issue that is bigger than one person.
Good on Ruby Rose.
Naming names isn’t easy, but it must be done.
A>E
— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) October 20, 2021
(via Yahoo, image: Robert Falconer/The CW)
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