Sarah Michelle Gellar Details ‘Toxic’ Culture on ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Set

Sarah Michelle Gellar has opened up and offered some details about the “toxic” culture on the set of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. According to The Wrap, Gellar made an appearance at the Power of Storytelling: Producers Roundtable for the outlet’s Power of Women Summit in L.A. thing week, where she broke her silence about the “extremely toxic male set.” The actress also noted that the experience taught her to surround herself with strong and supportive women.

“For so long, I was on a set that I think was known for being an extremely toxic male set, and so that was ingrained in my head that that was what all sets were like, and that women were pitted against each other – that if women became friends, then we became too powerful, so you had to keep that down,” Gellar said during the event. “And now that I’ve had this opportunity to work with so many more women and men that support women as well, I realized how easy an experience it can be, but … unfortunately we’re still in that place where all of those departments a lot of times need to be women for us to have a voice.”

Notably, Gellar is not the first Buffy actress to make this specific claim as many of the show’s past stars, including Amber Benson and Charisma Carpenter, have made similar statements. In 2021, Carpenter issued a lengthy statement, claiming series creator-showrunner Joss Whedon had been abusive toward her mentally, emotionally, and verbally. In her statement, the actress alleged that Whedon misused his power as the show’s creator by regularly manipulating her when he was dissatisfied with circumstances. 

Carpenter stated that, at one point, he even was dismissive of her pregnancy news. Instead of being happy, she claimed that Whedon used it to accuse her of trying to sabotage the series. “Joss Whedon abused his power on numerous occasions while working together on the sets of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel,” Carpenter stated. “While he found his misconduct amusing, it only served to intensify my performance anxiety, disempower me, and alienate me from my peers.”

Benson later took to social media to back up Carpenter’s claims, saying that the show did have a “toxic environment,” and stated that there was “truth” to the allegations, and that “a lot of damage” had been done to multiple Buffy cast members. Carpenter replied to Benson’s post, writing, “I love you. Your courage and support has proven to be a powerful inspiration and safe harbor.”