Ruby Rose has revealed she was accused of murder as a teenager after discovering a dying four-year-old boy at a playground gathering.
The Australian actress, 40, shared the previously untold story during her first-ever podcast interview on Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe. She explained that she was 15 years old and smoking her first cigarette with a friend near play equipment at a house in bushland when they spotted what they believed was a doll on a slide.
“My friend and I locked eyes and we started walking towards it. As we got close enough, we could tell this was a real human,” Rose said on the podcast. “There was blood coming out of his ear, nose, mouth. It was very traumatic.”
Rose carried the injured child inside, where adults performed CPR. She believed she had saved him when paramedics arrived and transported him to hospital still breathing. The actress later received devastating news about his condition.
“I got a call saying that he probably wouldn’t be okay, that they were keeping him on a machine and it didn’t look great. I just sent love to the family,” she recalled. Doctors eventually removed him from life support after determining he had been brain dead for an extended period.
The aftermath brought unexpected cruelty toward the teenager. Police arrived at Rose’s high school the following day to question her about the death.
“People were like, ‘Baby killer!’ I was breaking down,” she said.
The child’s older brother, who had witnessed the incident, had initially suffered dissociative amnesia that prevented him from explaining what happened. Once his memories returned, he went to police with the truth.
“He went back to the police and thank goodness told them, because they didn’t think it was me anyway, but that doesn’t always happen,” Rose explained. “He remembered and I was cleared, but [the child’s mother] still didn’t want me at the funeral. So everyone went except me.”
Rose eventually left Australia for Hollywood in 2013, building a career through action films including John Wick: Chapter 2, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, and Pitch Perfect 3. She later landed the title role on The CW’s Batwoman, but a serious spinal injury on set prompted her retreat from public life. She now resides in rural Victoria, having stepped back from the entertainment industry spotlight.
The playground death occurred during what Rose described as a social gathering attended by her mother and family friends. The setting was a house located in bushland with nearby play equipment where the tragic accident took place.