In May last year, it was announced that Ruby Rose would depart CW’s Arroverse series Batwoman after just one season, despite the series being renewed for a second season.
The narrative surrounding Ruby Rose’s departure suggested that Rose was unhappy working on the show, and in turn, was difficult to work with. “It wasn’t 100 percent her decision,” an industry source told TVLine at the time. “It was a breakup. She wasn’t happy working on the show.
“So everyone decided it would be in the best interests of the show, and for all concerned, if they parted ways. It just wasn’t a good fit.”
In 2019, Rose underwent emergency surgery on two herniated discs after injuring herself doing stunts on the Batwoman set. The source insisted that the on-set injury wasn’t a catalyst for leaving the show — rather, they said Rose was “distressed by the long hours demanded of a lead television role” and didn’t like living in Vancouver.
In a series of posts shared to Instagram stories, Rose has defended herself against claims that she was difficult to work with, whilst detailing alleged unsafe conditions and “bullying tactics” she witnessed during the show’s production.
Rose shared a video of a doctor detailing the injuries sustained in her X-rays, and a video of her surgery. The actress claims that she was told that if she did not return to work ten days after the surgery “the whole crew and cast would be fired.” She also alleges to have been told that by sustaining the injury on set, she’d “let everyone down” and “lost the studio millions.”
Delving further into alleged unsafe practices on set, Rose claims that she witnessed a crew member get third-degree burns; claims that Batwoman would not shut down production amid COVID; and details an unspecified accident that allegedly left a production assistant quadriplegic, after which “they tried to blame it on her being on her phone.”
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“A crew member got 3rd degree burns over his whole body, and we were given no therapy after witnessing his skin fall off his face but I was the only one who sent him flowers and cards,” she wrote. “We lost 2 stunt doubles, I got cut in the face so close to my eye in a stunt I could have been blind,” Rose wrote.
“A woman was left quadriplegic and they tried to blame it on her being on her phone, so much so CW didn’t even help her to start with because they needed to ‘investigate’ so she had to do a go fund me… she’s a PA, they work via phones. Her accident occurred because our show refused to shut down when everyone else did because of Covid.”
Rose also alleges that former Warner Bros. Television CEO Peter Roth, who left his position in 2020, “couldn’t stop making young women steam your pants, around your crotch while you were still wearing set pants.”
Rose claims that actor Dougray Scott, who portrayed Jacob Kane on the series, “abused women” by yelling at them and “hurt a female stunt double.” She also alleges that actors were “told we had to do a sex scene without a minute to process.”
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 20, 2021
Warner Bros. has released a statement, responding to Ruby Rose’s allegations: “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 behaviour that were extensively reviewed and handled privately out of respect for all concerned.”
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