'Deadpool 2' producers fined almost £250,000 over stuntwoman death on set
The producers of Deadpool 2 have been fined almost £250,000 following the death of stunt performer Joi Harris on the film’s set in Vancouver, Canada.
Competitive motorbike rider Harris was just 40 years old when she was ejected from her bike on the set and crashed through the plate-glass window of a nearby building in August 2017.
She was working as the double for actor Zazie Beetz in her first ever movie stunt.
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Statutory agency WorkSafeBC issued TCF Vancouver Productions with a $289,562 (£234,000) fine after identifying five violations of the Workers Compensation Act.
The producers previously reached an undisclosed settlement with Harris’s family.
“The primary purpose of an administrative penalty is to motivate the employer receiving the penalty — and other employers — to comply with occupational health and safety requirements and to keep their workplaces safe,” WorkSafe said in a statement to Deadline.
After the accident took place, the stunt community criticised 20th Century Fox for not taking adequate precautions to protect Harris during the stunt.
Production was shut down after the accident happened.
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Zazie Beetz and Ryan Reynolds both posted tributes to Harris on social media in the wake of the tragedy.
Reynolds said he was “heartbroken, shocked and devastated”, while Beetz sent “peace, healing and deepest condolences” to Harris’s family.
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 14, 2017
Michael Buckley, attorney for Harris’s family, said Fox dealt with them “very responsibly” in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter when the settlement was first announced.
He said: “There was a whole issue of stunt driver safety, and the fact is the people at Fox were extremely concerned about that and it drove their decision-making.”
When Deadpool 2 was released in May 2018, the film was dedicated to Harris.
Harris’s death was one of two stunt performer fatalities in North America in 2017, after John Bernecker suffered serious head injuries on the set of The Walking Dead and passed away shortly afterwards.
