On Wednesday, Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Charisma Carpenter accused creator Joss Whedon of recurrent abusive behavior on the set of the series, which was shown on the WB and UPN from 1997 to 2003. In one long post on Twitter, the actress reported encounters with Whedon in Buffy and your spinoff, Angel, which she said “traumatizes me today”.
Hours after Carpenter posted his Twitter account, co-stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Amber Benson and Michelle Trachtenberg expressed their solidarity.
“Joss Whedon has abused his power on several occasions while working together on the sets of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel”, Carpenter wrote. “Although he found his inappropriate conduct amusing, it only served to intensify my performance anxiety, weaken me and distance myself from my colleagues. The disturbing incidents triggered a chronic physical condition that I still suffer from. It is with a beating and heavy heart that I say that I dealt with in isolation and, sometimes, destructively. “
Carpenter continues to describe passive-aggressive comments made about her weight during a period when she was pregnant, and an incident in which Whedon asked if she would “stay with him” in reference to her baby.
Whedon “manipulated my femininity and faith as a weapon against me. He started attacking my character, mocking my religious beliefs, accusing me of sabotaging the program, and then he fired me unceremoniously the following season, as soon as I gave birth, ”she wrote.
Last summer, WarnerMedia launched an investigation into Whedon after actor Ray Fisher publicly accused the director-writer of misconduct on the set of Justice Leagueremake of. Involved in news that HBO Max would release a version of the director of Justice League, Fisher’s claims were finally investigated by WarnerMedia and, in December, the company announced that it had completed the investigation “and corrective measures have been taken”. A month before the company closed the investigation, Whedon left his new HBO series The Nevers, with writer Philippa Goslett taking over the show.
In his Twitter message, Carpenter cited Fisher’s accusations as an inspiration for her to tell her story, which was an open secret since at least 2009, despite little industry support for the actress. “With tears welling up, I feel a huge responsibility to Ray and the others for staying secret about my experience with Joss and the suffering it caused me,” said Carpenter. “It is quite evident that Joss persisted in his damaging actions, continuing to create debris in his wake. My hope now, when I finally present these experiences, is to create a space for the healing of others who I know have experienced similar abuses of power in series. “
Benson, who played Tara Maclay in Buffy, followed Carpenter’s tweet with his own show of support.
On Instagram, Gellar, although not so direct with his conviction, asked not to be “forever associated with the name Joss Whedon” and showed support to the survivors. Trachtenberg read the comments on the Instagram post to congratulate Gellar for speaking, “This must. Be known. Like a teenager. With your inappropriate behavior … ”she wrote.