Two days after the CW announced her casting as Batwoman, Ruby Rose has left Twitter over the abuse she received for… [checks notes] not being statuesque enough to play Batwoman, having been cast as Batwoman in the first place, and appealing too much to straight women, among other things.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rose deactivated her account after enduring vociferous criticism over her casting as Kate Kane, the lesbian superhero created in 2006 by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid, and Keith Giffen. The #RecastBatwoman hashtag is full of tweets campaigning for a different star, as well as requests that a Jewish actor play Batwoman, who is Jewish in the comics. There are also lots of complaints about the Orange Is The New Black alum’s stature, which doesn’t strike those users as physically imposing enough, while still others wish the CW had cast a wider net in their search for Batwoman. The din was enough to drive Rose from the social media site, though not before she posted a series of tweets, which are now unavailable but are quoted by THR:
Where on earth did ‘Ruby is not a lesbian therefore she can’t be batwoman’ come from—has to be the funniest most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read. I came out at 12? And have for the past 5 years had to deal with ‘she’s too gay’ how do y’all flip it like that? I didn’t change. I wish we would all support each other and our journeys.
When women and when minorities join forces we are unstoppable… when we tear each other down it’s much more hurtful than from any group. But hey/ love a challenge I just wish women and the LGBT community supported each other more, My wish was we were all a little kinder and more supportive of each other…Sending everyone my love and gratitude, it’s been a rollercoaster of a year, this month especially.
I am looking forward to getting more than 4 hours of sleep and to break from Twitter to focus all my energy on my next 2 projects. If you need me, I’ll be on my Bat Phone.
Before Rose departed Twitter, she was welcomed to the Arrowverse by Stephen Amell himself, as well as lauded by Laverne Cox and Janelle Monáe. The Batwoman standalone series is still very much in the early stages of development, judging from CW president Mark Pedowitz’s recent remarks.