Charisma Carpenter has another high-profile co-star in her corner.
‘Bring It On’ star Eliza Dushku is the latest ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ alum to express her support for Carpenter, 50, who claimed Wednesday that the ‘Buffy’ creator, Joss Whedon, 56, ‘abused his power’ and an “Ever More Volatile Work Environment.”
“CC, my heart aches for you and I am so sorry you kept this up for so long,” Dushku, no stranger to the fight against workplace bullying, wrote on Instagram. “Your message was powerful, painful and painted a picture we will never see or know together.”
Dushku played the vampire murderer Faith opposite Carpenter’s Cordelia Chase on both Buffy and its spin-off, Angel. She joins an ever-growing list of ‘Buffy’ vets – including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michelle Trachtenberg, Amber Benson and Emma Caulfield – to lend support on social media and say to Carpenter, “I admire, respect and love of you.”
The 40-year-old “Tru Calling” and “Dollhouse” actress has experienced toxic workplaces before. In 2018, Dushku claimed that “True Lies” stunt coordinator Joel Kramer sexually assaulted her when she was 12 years old.
Then came the bombshell report that same year which revealed that Dushku had secretly paid $ 9.5 million by CBS in 2018 for allegations she retaliated against and written off “Bull” after complaining about alleged sexual harassment by lead actor Michael Weatherly on set.
“I often think of the saying, ‘We are as sick as our secrets,’” Dushku continued in her post. that profound healing can come only through naming and revealing what really happened, the necessary first step (if someone is ready) to free ourselves from our secrets, untold truths that have isolated, shamed and held us hostage. “
Carpenter cited Ray Fisher’s unceremonious fire as Cyborg from the upcoming “The Flash” movie as a catalyst for her crackdown on Whedon. The “Justice League” actor had accused his director of being “rude, insulting, unprofessional and utterly unacceptable” to him and others on the set of the Warner Bros. superhero movie. The 33-year-old actor retweeted Carpenter’s emotional post, calling her ‘one of the bravest people I know’.
Carpenter and Fisher’s allegations add to Trachtenberg’s allegations of “inappropriate behavior” by Whedon towards the then teenager on the set of “Buffy,” and that “there was another rule saying he was not allowed in a room alone. are “with her.
Representatives for Whedon – who “broke up” with HBO’s “The Nevers” in November – did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
