Ruby Rose is setting the record straight on their sudden departure from Batwoman in May 2020, alleging that a toxic workplace led to their exit. In a series of Instagram Stories shared on Wednesday, Rose claimed that they did not “quit” the CW series after one season, but were forced to leave amid untenable work circumstances, including set-related injuries and safety issues.
Rose began their posts by tagging Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries and executive producers Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter, writing, “I will come for you so what happened to me never happens to another person again. And so I can finally take back my life and the truth. Shame on you.” (At the time of Rose’s exit in May 2020, they wrote on Instagram, “It wasn’t an easy decision but those who know, know…. I have stayed silent because that’s my choice for now but know I adore you all.” )
The actor, who made history as TV’s first openly gay superhero, underwent surgery for two herniated discs they suffered while filming Batwoman in 2019. “Imagine going back to work 10 days after this,” Rose posted on their Instagram alongside footage of the operation. They also claim that instead of taking “half a day to rewrite me out for a few weeks to heal,” they were forced to return to set 10 days after the surgery. “[If I didn’t] the whole crew and cast would be fired, and I’d let everyone down, because Peter Roth said he wouldn’t recast and I just lost the studio millions (by getting injured on his set),” they allege. “[And] that [I’d] be the one who cost so many people their jobs.”
According to Rose, multiple crew members were injured on the set of Batwoman’s first season. They allege that one crew member sustained “third-degree burns over his whole body,” a production assistant suffered a spinal injury, two stunt doubles were lost, and that Rose themself was “cut in the face so close to my eye in a stunt that I could have been blind[ed].” Rose further claims a GoFundMe was set up to cover expenses for the production assistant seriously injured in an on-set accident. They allege that this incident could’ve been avoided had Dries opted to shut down production at the onset of COVID-19.
Rose concluded their comments by explaining, “To my dear, dear fans, stop asking if I will return to that awful show, I wouldn’t return for any amount of money nor if a gun were to my head. NOR DID I QUIT. I DID NOT QUIT. They ruined Kate Kane and they destroyed Batwoman, not me. I followed orders, and if I wanted to stay I was going to have to sign my rights away. Any threats, any bullying tactics or blackmail will not make me stand down.”
Warner Bros. TV addressed Rose’s allegations in a statement to Vanity Fair: “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.” Reps for Berlanti, Dries, Rose, and Schechter have not immediately responded to requests for comment. Roth couldn’t be reached for comment at the time of the posting.
Following Rose’s Batwoman exit, the show cast Javicia Leslie as the character’s new off-duty persona, Ryan Wilder, for season two, which is currently airing on the CW.
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