9h54 PST 02/10/2021
in
Ryan Parker
“For almost two decades, I held my tongue and even made excuses for certain events that traumatize me today,” she tweeted.
Charisma Carpenter on Wednesday posted a long message on social media in which she accused Joss Whedon of “hostile and toxic” behavior on the sets of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and your spinoff, Angel.
“For almost two decades, I held my tongue and even made excuses for certain events that traumatize me today,” she began.
“Joss Whedon has abused his power on several occasions while working on sets of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel,” she wrote about the creator of the program. “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. “
Whedon had no comment at this time.
Carpenter said Whedon found his supposed counting error “amusing”, claiming he was particularly cruel to her while she was pregnant, even calling her “fat” in front of the cast and crew.
“He was mean and scathing, openly disparaging others and used to be a favorite,” she wrote. When Whedon found out she was pregnant, he asked the actress if she “would keep him” and “manipulated my femininity and faith as a weapon against me,” said Carpenter.
Speaking about pregnancy and stress, Carpenter wrote that all of his joy was “sucked away”, adding: “I made up excuses for his behavior and suppressed my own pain.”
The actress was a regular on the original series on The WB Network / UPN’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, playing the snobbish high school student Cordelia Chase. She was a regular on the show for the first three seasons of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s cult favorite before her character was transferred to co-star alongside David Boreanaz in Buffy spin off Angel before its fourth season. She was the female protagonist Angel for four of his five seasons, returning as a guest star in his 100th episode in the final season.
Amber Benson, who played fan favorite Tara Maclay in Buffy, tweeted his support for Carpenter Wednesday. While the two never overlapped during their time in Buffy, they have remained friendly through the fan convention circuit over the years. (Benson and Carpenter are doing a fan event at the end of the month together.) Benson returned in seasons four and five of Buffy, before being promoted to regular in the sixth season before her character was killed.
Carpenter’s allegations come seven months after Ray Fisher accused Whedon of abusive behavior on the set of Justice League remake, which the filmmaker supervised after the departure of original director Zack Snyder.
Fisher’s complaints saw WarnerMedia launch an investigation into the Justice League reshoots, and Carpenter said she was part of the investigation.
As the investigation continued, Whedon announced on November 24, 2020 that he was stepping down from The Nevers, a series he was working on with HBO from WarnerMedia, saying in a statement: “I am genuinely exhausted and I am going back to martializing my energy towards my own life, which is also on the verge of exciting change.
Weeks later, on December 11, 2020, WarnerMedia announced that it had concluded the investigation with a “corrective action” taken. However, the story is not over. Fisher said he would not work on a production with DC Film chief Walter Hamada, due to what Fisher claimed was the executive interfering in the investigation. Fisher was later released from the next The Flash film like Cyborg.
Fisher on Wednesday thanked Carpenter for speaking up, writing on Twitter: “Charisma Carpenter is one of the most courageous people I know. I will be forever grateful for your courage and for lending your voice to the Justice League investigation. Read her truth. Share your truth. Protect it at all costs. ‘It’s time.’ “
Lesley Goldberg and Aaron Couch contributed to the report.