A history of all the off-camera controversies there have been surrounding Bridgerton

Ruby Barker claims nobody from Shondaland or Netflix reached out to her when she had two psychotic breaks from the show

6 months ago

Recently, Bridgerton actress Ruby Barker has spoken out about her experience working on the show. But, this isn’t the first time the show has come under fire. There have been a number of controversies surrounding Bridgerton since the show first came out on Netflix.

Cast members have spoken out about their mental health since the show, and there has been news from behind the scenes and within production of the Netflix drama.

Here’s a rundown of all the controversies there have been surrounding Bridgerton on Netflix.

Actress Ruby Barker was hospitalised over her mental health, which she said she struggled with since Bridgerton

A rundown of controversies surrounding Bridgerton on Netflix

via Netflix

In 2022, actress Ruby Barker first spoke out about her struggles with her mental health. She said she was in hospital, and had been struggling since filming Bridgerton.

“I am better, I’ve been really unwell,” the actress who plays Marina Thompson said at the time. “I’m in hospital, I’m going to be discharged soon.” She went on to say she was going to take a bit of a break for herself and encouraged others to be less hard on themselves. “I haven’t hit rock bottom, I’m on new heights,” she said.

Describing how she felt, Ruby said: “I was raged-filled, angry, all this intergenerational trauma bundled up inside me, I was carrying the weight of the world on my back and now I am at the point where I have a diagnosis, I am drawing a line in the sand. I can’t carry on the way that I was, I need to change so that is what I am trying to do.”

She continued: “I felt so alone, I was trying to hold onto my mental health, applying so much pressure. You need to learn that people love you and be kind to yourself.”

At the time, Ruby thanked her friends, and Netflix and Shonda Rhimes for the opportunity they gave her with the show. But since then, she has called out Netflix and Shondaland for failing to support her during two psychotic breaks that occurred after the show.

“Not a single person from Netflix, not a single person from Shondaland, since I have had two psychotic breaks from that show, have even contacted me or even emailed me to ask me if I’m okay or if I would benefit from any sort of aftercare or support,” she said during an interview on Oxford University’s LOAF Podcast. “Nobody.”

In the same interview she said she was “deteriorating” during filming, and said: “It was a really tormenting place for me to be because my character was very alienated, very ostracised, on her own under these horrible circumstances.”

The Tab has reached out to Netflix for comment.

A Bridgerton executive was fired over bullying and abusive behaviour claims on set

Also in 2022, an executive for the show was fired after claims of bullying and abusive behaviour on the Bridgerton set. Production design chief, Dave Arrowsmith, was said to no longer work for the show, after claims were made about his behaviour. Dave was reportedly working on the Queen Charlotte spin-off, but had since been let go.

According to The Sun, Dave had “crossed the line” with others working on the show and sources said “bullying” had become such an issue on set that bosses at Netflix had been forced to set up an anonymous whistleblowing hotline for cast and crew members to report anything that happened.

A source told The Sun: “There have been several issues on set, and a few crew members expressed concerns about a number of different incidents.” A Netflix spokesman confirmed to The Sun that Dave Arrowsmith is no longer working on the drama, but declined to comment further.

At the time, The Tab contacted a representative for Dave Arrowsmith for comment but did not receive a reply.

There was lots of drama when it was announced Regé-Jean Page was leaving the cast

via Netflix

After season two, the world shed a collective tear when it was announced Regé-Jean Page would not be returning to his role as the Duke. But, following this announcement there was drama and a lot of rumours about what went down behind the scenes.

Announcing his exit, Regé-Jean Page said: “Pleasure and a privilege! An honour to be a member of the family – on and off screen, cast, crew and incredible fans – the love is real and will just keep growing.” Sharing a further explanation of his exit, Page said: “It’s a one-season arc. It’s going to have a beginning, middle, end—give us a year.”

But then the rumours began. It was reported Regé-Jean Page turned down a pretty impressive sum of £250,000 to appear in the show’s second season. A source close to the show told The Hollywood Reporter he was offered an opportunity to return as a guest star in three to five episodes of season two, but declined for “a multitude of reasons.” He was offered the gig at £50,000 an episode, so if he accepted the top offer of being in five, he would have been paid a quarter of a million pounds for his appearances.

At first it was said he had simply declined to come back because he was starring in other things, but then it was later said Page had left the show over a “disagreement with producers” over the future of his character and “refused” to come back.

A source told Page Six: “Regé is not coming back to Bridgerton because of creative differences with [executive producer] Shonda Rhimes and her team. He wasn’t happy with what was planned for his character for season two, which would have kept him a player but not the focal point of the show.” The source concluded Page still left the show on good terms, despite “creative differences”.

Regé-Jean Page later said that he had “respectively exited” the cast’s WhatsApp group. “I didn’t want to put them in an awkward situation where they had to kick me out,” he told GQ. “The universe has expanded, so I’m no longer in it.”

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