Following the news of multi-hyphenate producer Joss Whedon‘s “toxic” workplace environment, Variety Magazine released an investigation into the accusations surrounding Whedon by doing a deep dive into the fims/movies on his resume, including the popular ’90s supernatural drama Buffy and its spinoff Angel. One of it’s largest findings reveals that the show’s main star Sarah Michelle Gellar may not have the best relationship –– even still, almost 20 years after the show ended in 2003.
While Gellar declined to comment on her relationship with Whedon, sources “familiar with the [Buffy] production say that fairly early into the show’s run, Gellar had a severed relationship with Whedon, to the extent that she did not want his name spoken around her.” Previous Buffy castmembers who spoke out against Whedon’s “inappropriate” behavior include Michelle Trachtenberg and Charisma Carpenter. Carpenter, in a series of Twitter posts, revealed Whedon used to taunt her with “passive-aggressive threats to fire me.” “He was mean and biting, disparaging about others openly, and often played favorites, pitting people against one another to compete and vie for his attention and approval,” she wrote. Trachtenberg, who played Dawn Summers in the supernatural series, somewhat echoed Carpenter’s words in another post. “There was a rule saying he’s not allowed in a room alone with Michelle [Trachtenberg] again.”
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The probe into Whedon’s workplace was sparked after Ray Fisher, who plays the new Cyborg in the latest Justice League film, accused the filmmaker of “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable” of actors on the film’s set in 2020. Shortly after, Fisher’s words were met with an influx of support from other actors who’d also worked with Whedon. Jason Momoa was one of the most vocally supportive stars to stand behind Fisher. “THIS S–– HAS TO STOP AND NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AT [Ray Fisher] AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO EXPERIENCED WHAT HAPPEN UNDER THE WATCH OF [Warner Bros. Pictures] NEEDS PROPER INVESTIGATION I just think it’s f––ed up that people released a fake Frosty announcement without my permission to try to distract from Ray Fisher speaking up about the shitty way we were treated on Justice League reshoots,” Momoa said in an Instagram posts. “Serious stuff went down. It needs to be investigated and people need to be held accountable. ‘IStandWithRayFisher’.”
