Probably the biggest Hollywood cancellation of 2020 and 2021 was of Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly and the director of the first two Avengers movies. To make a long story short, Whedon was first called out by Ray Fisher (Cyborg) for allegedly “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable” behavior on the set of Justice League, a movie he took over directing from Zack Snyder after Snyder was called away on a family emergency. That led into allegations from Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) that Wheden had threatened her career. And things really heated up when Charisma Carpenter, who worked with Whedon on the sets of Buffy and Angel, detailed her own experience with Whedon’s toxic behavior, alleging that he was “casually cruel” to her, including by calling her fat when she was pregnant, asking her if she was “going to keep it.”
All of this resulted, essentially, in Whedon being exiled from show business. He lost his showrunning gig on The Nevers and has nothing in the hopper. He spoke out again earlier this week in a lengthy interview with Vulture where he addresses some of the allegations against him, but I don’t think it did much good.
Here’s a few of the things he said in the interview:
- Whedon called Fisher’s allegations against him “false and unjust.” About Fisher personally, he said, “We’re talking about a malevolent force. We’re talking about a bad actor in both senses.”
- About him threatening Gadot’s career, Whedon speculated that she may have misunderstood what he said, given that she’s not a native English speaker. Gadot responded to that: “I understood perfectly.”
- As for Carpenter, Whedon admitted that he was “not mannerly” with her, but said that “[m]ost of my experiences with Charisma were delightful and charming. She struggled sometimes with her lines, but nobody could hit a punch line harder than her.”
Ray Fisher and Charisma Carpenter respond to Joss Whedon
Now, Fisher and Carpenter have responded, and mentioned each other in their statements. “#IStandWithCharismaCarpenter who (like this “bad actor in both senses”) has no agency in determining matters of abuse or race, but for the influence of a White male shadow puppeteer,” Fisher wrote.
Carpenter put out a couple of statements. “#IStandWithRayFisher, the ‘malevolent force’ and ‘bad actor in both senses’ who poisoned my mind with trendy buzzwords and corrupt ideas about my experiences with a former tyrannical narcissistic boss who is still unable to be accountable and just apologize,” reads one.
The other she wrote in relation to Gal Gadot. “I believe Gal Gadot not only understands career threats in English but Hebrew and Arabic. Possibly French, Spanish, and Italian too.”
Will there be any more, or has this scandal run its course?
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h/t The A.V. Club
