Ruby Rose Reveals Alleged Abusive Work Conditions On Batwoman
Ruby Rose is making serious allegations about the working conditions on the set of The CW's Batwoman!
This article is more than 2 years old
Ever since Ruby Rose left behind the titular crimefighter after the inaugural season of The CW’s Batwoman, there’s been speculation about exactly what was going on behind the scenes. Almost a year and a half later, Rose took to social media and made serious allegations about Warner Bros. bigwigs and Batwoman costars alike. Taken as a whole, they make Ray Fisher’s account of working on Justice League sound like a fairy tale in comparison.
Ruby Rose posted her account to the stories on her Instagram page, and while some of her allegations are more vague than others — they include accusations of sexual harassment, verbal and possibly even physical abuse, and gross negligence in terms of the mental and physical health of the cast and crew. You can see screenshots of Rose’s accounts, as captured by Discussing Film, below.
The first person Ruby Rose calls out is former Warner Bros. Television Group Chairman Peter Roth, claiming that Roth would make “young women” steam his pants while he was still wearing them, around his crotch. She claims Roth hired a private investigator to follow the former Batwoman lead, and that the investigator was fired when his reports “didn’t fit [Roth’s] narrative.” She also called her costar Dougray Scott — who plays Kate Kane’s father, Colonel Jacob Kane — “a little bitch.” Along with claiming he would come and go as he pleased, she makes nonspecific allegations about him abusing women and yelling at them on set. She also alleges he “hurt a female stunt double” though isn’t specific about it. Rose said that in response to her costar’s yelling she emailed the studio to ask for the enforcement of a “no yelling” policy and that her suggestion was turned down.
Ever since Ruby Rose’s departure from Batwoman, one of the events speculated to have inspired the move was a spinal injury she suffered while performing a stunt. In her post, Rose gets specific about what happened. She shows a video of her neck injury, as well as revealing a rib injury and a tumor. Rose alleges that she was told she had to return to work 10 days after the injury, and was threatened that the “the whole crew and cast would be fired” if she didn’t.
What’s even more disturbing is that if Ruby Rose’s claims are accurate, what she experienced after the spinal injury are not even close to being the most severe way in which the cast and crew of Batwoman were neglected in terms of their physical and mental health. Rose says at one point she was nearly blinded during a stunt and talks about another stunt double suffering third degree burns and she needed to immediately pivot into a sex scene with no time to process “witnessing his skin fall off his face.” She also says a PA suffered an accident that left her quadriplegic and that The CW refused to help her financially, saying it was her own fault.
On top of everything else, Ruby Rose claims Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries “has no heart” and refused to stop production after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, even after other CW shows like The Flash and Riverdale shut down. She also claimed the showrunner only visited the set “4 times in a year.”
As for how The CW plans to respond to Ruby Rose’s allegations, there’s been no word yet. Considering how similar situations have played out in recent years, however, this is sure to not be the end of this story. We’re sure to hear from the CW, Warner Bros., and more Batwoman actors and crew members in the days, weeks, and perhaps even months to come.
