Ruby Rose Rips Batwoman: “Enough is Enough”

Former Batwoman lead Ruby Rose has taken to social media to further detail her exit from The CW show, alleging dangerous working conditions on the set and specifically calling out former Warner Bros. Television Studios president Peter Roth, Batwoman producers Caroline Dries and Sarah Schechter, and Arrowverse head-producer Greg Berlanti in the posts. Rose departed Batwoman as lead actor following the first season. While they had previously given a more company-friendly explanation for their exit, citing the general demands of being a superhero lead and the back injury they suffered while doing stunts on the show, Rose paints a more detailed (and damning) picture in their recent social media posts.

Rose’s story was posted in Instagram story format on their official account, and has been shared as screenshots in various places. Allegations include sexual misconduct by Roth and other unsafe working conditions that allegedly led not only to Rose’s injuries but also to a crew member receiving “third degree burns over his whole body.” Rose discusses the company’s decision to continue filming despite COVID-19 risks, which allegedly led to a production assistant becoming quadriplegic and having to start a Go Fund Me campaign to pay for their health care. Rose says that they were forced to return to work 10 days after serious surgery, with the implication being that the entire crew would lose their jobs if they didn’t. After the surgery, Rose alleges that WB refused to provide transportation, instead telling them to “get a taxi.”

You can read all of Rose’s story in the tweet thread below…

The allegations come only a week after the IATSE reached a tentative agreement in their negotiations with film and TV producers to improve working conditions across TV and film sets. Should the agreement be ratified, it would increase the lowest-paid workers wage by 62%, mandate a 10-hour turnaround time between shifts and a 54-hour weekend rest period, and increase meal penalties (compensation for crews that work more than six hours without a meal break). The organizing campaign around the negotiations included the sharing of stories detailing the unsafe and unethical working conditions across many productions through the @ia_stories Instagram account.

Rose’s allegations are serious and demand further investigation into the Batwoman production working conditions. There is more than one side to every story, but, whatever the case with Batwoman, it’s clear from the IATSE negotiations and from other sources that Hollywood production has settled into a status quo that too often leads to unsafe and unethical working conditions, especially for those with the least amount of pay and power. This has only been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which not only delayed major money-making projects, but has added another factor into the responsibility of keeping production workers safe.