Charisma Carpenter claims that Joss Whedon “abused his power on several occasions” while acting on Whedon’s series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel”. In a lengthy statement that the 50-year-old actor posted on Twitter on Wednesday, Carpenter claims that Whedon’s “casually cruel” behavior included threatening to fire her, calling her “fat” when she was four months pregnant, asking whether she would go to “keep” her baby and fire her after delivery.
A Whedon representative declined to comment.
Most of Carpenter’s statement focuses on Whedon’s reaction to learning that she was pregnant while filming the WB series “Angel”, which premiered in 1999 as a “Buffy” spin-off. She claims that after “refusing” calls from her agents to communicate that she was pregnant, when Whedon learned of her situation, he had a “closed-door meeting” with her.
“[H]He asked me if I ‘would keep him’ and we manipulate 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 fired me unceremoniously after the season, once I gave birth. “
Carpenter said she received a call to work at 1 am after her doctor recommended shortening her hours after she started experiencing contractions from Braxton Hicks due to “long, physically demanding days”. She says she believes the 1 am call “was retaliation”. (Carpenter’s pregnancy was included in the show’s plot.)
In the wake of her experience of leaving “Angel”, Carpenter says she felt “helpless and alone”, especially as her family’s “main breadwinner”. “Unfortunately, all of this was happening during one of the most wonderful moments[s] in the new maternity hospital, ”she writes. “All that promise and joy was sucked out. And Joss was the vampire. “
In his statement, Carpenter says he chose to speak out in light of Ray Fisher’s claims that Whedon abused his power on the “Justice League” set, which was the subject of a lengthy investigation by WarnerMedia last year. Carpenter says she participated in the investigation and decided to reveal after Fisher made it public that he would no longer appear as his “Justice League” character Cyborg in the next film “The Flash”.
“Although I am not shocked, I am deeply hurt by this,” writes Carpenter. “It bothers me and saddens me to know that in 2021 professionals will STILL have to choose between reporting in the workplace and job security.”
Shortly after Carpenter posted his statement, “Buffy” actor Amber Benson expressed his support on twitter, claiming that the show was a “toxic environment and starts from the top”.
“A lot of damage was done during that time and many of us are still suing it more than twenty years later,” wrote Benson.
Fisher too express support for Carpenter, calling her “one of the most courageous people I know”.
Carpenter’s full statement is below.
My truth. #IStandWithRayFisher pic.twitter.com/eNjYcJ6zwP
– charisma carpenter (@AllCharisma) February 10, 2021
– charisma carpenter (@AllCharisma) February 10, 2021
More to come.