From Firefly to Buffy to Marvel to DC, fans of Joss Whedon’s generation-spanning film and TV work have struggled over the past few months to avoid media reports about the prolific creator / director’s alleged indiscretions. Starting with the one created by Whedon Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its TV spin-off Angel in the 1990s, and all the way to Warner Bros. ‘ Justice League In 2017, both male and female actors voiced a series of public criticism highlighting their anecdotal accounts of Whedon’s alleged inappropriateness.
While neither Whedon nor his management have commented so far on the allegations against him, a new report on Variety focuses on examining the Whedon controversy from the point of view of various actors and crew members who have worked with him on projects both recent and further in the past. The resulting report, again not citing Whedon as a direct source, suggests a “ pattern of inappropriate, imperious and disparaging behavior towards those who worked for him, ” including a reported break with Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar who hails from the earliest days on the small screen of the iconic series.
Gellar was one of 40 actors and crew known with Whedon who declined to comment directly on Variety‘s report. Only a few sources “familiar with the [Buffy] production say that Gellar had a broken relationship with Whedon quite early in the course of the show, to the extent that she didn’t want his name spoken around her. “
Buffy premiered on the now-defunct The WB network all the way back in 1997 – more than 20 years before Cyborg actor Ray Fisher would emerge in the summer of 2020 with scathing condemnations of what Fisher considered Whedons’ gross, insulting , unprofessional, and completely unacceptable ”treatment of actors on the set of Justice LeagueThose comments would eventually garner support for Fisher from fellow Justice League actors, with Jason Momoa providing the most vocal backing. But they also preceded additional allegations against Whedon from actors he was in Buffy and Angel days – including recent claims of inappropriateness from Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase in both series), as well as from Michelle Trachtenberg (Buffy‘s Dawn Summers).
Trachtenberg recently posted on Instagram a claim that “There was a line” on the Buffy suppose Whedon was not allowed in a room alone with Michelle [Trachtenberg] again. ”And Carpenter went public earlier this month with a couple- from Twitter messages claiming that Whedon “abused his power on numerous occasions while collaborating on the sets of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and AngelCarpenter accused Whedon of forcing actors to seek his attention, and of making disparaging comments about her own pregnancy at the time – including how this could adversely affect her future in the series.
The person who worked closely with Carpenter while she played Buffy and Angel recalls the actor who often described Whedon as ‘petty’ and ‘verbally insulting’ towards her, “reports Variety, “Which made it clear to her that he had favorites – and she wasn’t one of them. ‘That was his game,’ the source reportedly told the outlet.
Details of alleged Whedon-Gellar interactions that may have led to their report Buffy fractures are not mentioned in Variety‘s report, although Gellar’s recent comments on social media suggest that she is sympathetic to other actors and their Whedon-focused complaints. “While I’m proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don’t want to be associated with the name Joss Whedon forever,” Gellar said in an Instagram post recently, in response to Carpenter’s allegations.
Sources for Variety‘s report suggested that Buffy’s early, budget-friendly film environment, far from the daily studio surveillance and populated by many relatively inexperienced young actors, may have created the kind of atmosphere that created an unprofessional clique-like social dynamic in’ high school ‘. has promoted among its talented cast and creative lead actor.
Reportedly operating “just like an indie movie”, the Buffy the set reportedly functioned “like the high school, with Whedon making everyone aware of who was and was not there,” said VarietyThe same sources, all speaking anonymously, described the established culture of both Buffy and Angel as “a cult of personality” centered around Whedon: “Those on the inside of Whedon’s circle enjoyed his attention, praise, and friendship; those on the outside got the opposite: contempt, ridicule and insensitivity, ”the report states.
Whedon’s creative resume is the stuff of movie and TV legend and includes perennially revered small screen sci-fi treasures such as Firefly Buffy, and AngelOn the big screen, Whedon helped build Marvel’s MCU into a box office juggernaut as director of The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), before taking a late directorial role on Warner Bros. ‘ Justice League after director Zack Snyder left the project due to a family tragedy.
Recently, Whedon boarded and then took off The Nevers, a supernatural sci-fi drama Whedon and HBO worked on. Announced in 2018, The Nevers originally put Whedon’s creative talents to the fore as a writer, director, executive producer and showrunner. However, in November last year, HBO announced that Whedon had left the project. The Nevers is still on track to make his HBO debut on April 11, with Philippa Goslett replacing Whedon as showrunner.
Amid the still-growing controversy surrounding other actors’ allegations against Whedon, HBO Chief Content Office Casey Bloys told The Wrap earlier this month that the network had received “ no complaints or reports of inappropriate behavior ” from Whedon during its shortened creative period with The Nevers