Last week, Charisma Carpenter went public with abuse allegations against Joss Whedon. Now, her Buffy and Angel costar David Boreanaz backs her up.
Last week, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel star Charisma Carpenter detailed her experience working with show creator Joss Whedon, accusing him of abusing his power, punishing and firing her in retaliation for getting pregnant, and more. She shared her story in solidarity with Justice League star Ray Fisher, who has been accusing Whedon of “gross, abusive, unprofessional” behavior on the set of that movie for months.
Not long after Carpenter came forward, other Buffy and Angel alums weighed in, some of them with claims of their own (Amber Benson and Michelle Trachtenberg) and some with more general messages of support (Sarah Michelle Gellar).
Now, Carpenter’s Angel costar David Boreanaz, who played the title character, has come out with his own message of support. Carpenter, for her part, thanked him, both for the show of support and everything he’s done to help her in private:
Other cast members have sounded off, too. James Marsters, who played the vampire Spike on both Buffy and Angel, said he was “heartbroken” to learn about what some of his castmates experienced:
Meanwhile, Anthony Stewart Head, who played Rupert Giles on Buffy, talked about the situation on the show This Morning. As the oldest member of the core cast, Head was something of a “father figure” on the set, and sounded blindsided by some of the accusations. “I have been up most of the night just running through my memories thinking ‘What did I miss?’” he said. “This is not a man saying ‘I didn’t see it so it didn’t happen.’ I am gutted, I’m seriously gutted because one of my memories, my fondest memory was the fact that it was so empowering. ‘Not just with the words in the script, but the family feel of the show. I am really sad that if people went through these experiences.”
As for Joss Whedon himself, the director has yet to respond to any of this, although he did quietly exit his HBO show The Nevers a couple months back. He cited “exhaustion” at the time, although given that it happened in the midst of investigation that Warner Bros. mounted in response to Ray Fisher’s claims, and given everything that’s happening now, I wonder if that wasn’t a cover.
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h/t CBR
