Ruby Rose rocked DC fandom yesterday by sharing stunning accusations about the Batwoman cast and crew via social media. The Australian actress, who exited the series (carried by the CW) after just one season, blasted network execs, producers, and certain co-stars, outlining various allegations uncaring, manipulative or abusive on-set behavior. Her comments resulted in a swell of online support.
However, Warner Bros. Television subsequently hit back at Rose, calling her allegations “revisionist history” and stating that she was actually fired from the production after multiple complaints were filed against her from cast and crew members. A former production assistant on Batwoman‘s first season has since backed up WB’s statement, and shared their own experience of working with Rose.
Alexander J. Baxter, now the CEO and founder of Constellate Films, labeled Rose a “dictator” who left her assistants “exhausted emotionally and physically” during her tenure on the show, which Baxter calls “her reign of cruelty.” Here’s what they had to say (via CBR.):
When I first got into the industry, I was very fortunate to get on certain shows like Supergirl, Sabrina, and a few features here in there, but the highlight of my entry to film was Batwoman season one. I was an actor, aspiring to know more about the film ministry, and when the job came up I was so excited, being a DC fan and a huge fan of Warner Bros., I jumped at the opportunity.
My philosophy was that I could learn as much as I could on set and then go on to do my own films. Little did I know of the hell that away to me on those sets. The production company was professional, dialled in, and in every way fantastic. The crew was lovely, hard-working and dedicated to countless night shoots, it sounded to be an amazing experience in the making.
Then, according to Baxter, the story pivoted on four words, “Then came Ruby Rose.”
According to his account, “her supposed injury stopped her from doing 60% of her job” from the outset. He also alleged, “She began her first day on the show not acknowledging a single crew member besides anyone above the line,” and in the subsequent long days that followed, “things got worse.” He relayed:
She showed up late most days, didn’t have her lines memorized, and Whenever she interacted with anyone below the line, production assistant, LX Crew, grips, it was as though we were beneath her boots. She stormed off set, she yelled at people, and whenever she interacted with any of us production assistants, we were disregarded as the trash we picked up. One day at the studio we spent the entire morning setting up her requested green room (six heaters, because she was used to Australian hot weather, and her table of snacks), only to have her show up, giggle, walk away and say she is good. We chalked it up to another “Ruby is just giving orders for the sake of giving orders moment” and moved on. Then, I was holding a door open for her, after having worked over 15 hours at that point in the freezing cold weather, and she came billowing through the door that I just opened, and she spilt her food. She looked at it, then up at me, and said: “Well?” and then stormed off and left me to clean up her mess. That is what it felt like working beneath Ruby: cleaning up her mess. She never thanked us, she only made demands that left us all exhausted emotionally and physically.
He went on declare:
She was a dictator to work for, and having been nothing but a Production Assistant eager to get into the industry, she made me consider quitting. If this was the industry I was going to get into, I sure as hell wasn’t going to work for entitled tyrants. Living downtown, I met one of her close friends on a dating app and he shared with me stories of them partying and getting high on all assortments of drugs, and funnily enough the days where she showed up 8 hours late to set, were the days he spoke about. She didn’t care how long we waited for her and made sure everything was perfect and ready, she just cared about her personal party lifestyle.
We worked countless long days, always going into overtime because she was either late or not off book, or some other reason relating to her not wanting to be there. From the moment we started the show she made every new person that came on uneasy and unsupported. She was a horrible star and made so many of us feel like we were helping make a show for a dictator.
Filmmakers, no matter what position they are on a film set deserve to be treated with respect. That’s how I was taught growing up and in film school, and when I read her article claiming that the production was at fault, it infuriated me because having been there, I don’t wanna stand by and let her badmouth a company that she tried to screw over. No matter how bad your day, you have no right to be cruel. And season 1 was her reign of cruelty.
Batwoman actor Camrus Johnson has likewise supposed WB’s comments, confirming that Rose was fired, heavily hinting that it was because of her unpleasant attitude and behavior. Furthermore, Dougray Scott – who Rose accused of being verbally abusive to female crew members – has outright denied her “defamatory and damaging” claims. Despite this, others who say they have worked on various CW series have revealed their own experiences on this Reddit thread, which echo Rose’s own complaints.
Batwoman season 3 airs Wednesdays on The CW.
Update Oct 21. 4:24pm CST: Updated with clarified transcriptions after receiving corrections from the source.
Published: Oct 21, 2021 01:20 pm