Over the past year or so, Cyborg actor Ray Fisher has been in a public feud with Warner Bros. over his treatment during the filming ofJustice League. The actor alleges that several executives in the company behaved unprofessionally and threatened his career, but particularly that director Joss Whedon engaged in unprofessional and harassing behavior on set during filming. Now, multiple stars ofBuffy the Vampire Slayerhave recounted their own experiences of abuse at the hands of Whedon during the filming of the series.
Fisher received a boost from various other celebrities who supported his desire foran investigation into Whedon’s behavioron the set ofJustice League, which eventually concluded in Warner Bros. stating that “appropriate action” had been taken. Whedon himself has never responded to any of Fisher’s accusations and Warner Bros. has not commented on any specific instances directly.
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Recently, Fisher has beenofficially let go from the DC Film universeand he claims he will never work under current DC Film President Walter Hamada. So, it seemed, for better or worse, the story would settle down. Recently, however, two actresses fromBuffy the Vampire Slayer, one of Whedon’s earliest hit projects, have spoken out against the director, accusing him of abusive and unprofessional behavior.
It began with Charisma Carpenter, who publicly tweeted out a statement titled “My truth” with the “IStandWithRayFisher” hashtag. In the statement, Carpenter alleges that Whedon abused his power over the actors and had a history of creating toxic work environments, including degrading comments, passive-aggressive threats to fire actors, and berating her over her pregnancy. Shortly after the statement came out, a slew of other actors from bothBuffyand its spin-offAngelcame out in support of Carpenter. Amber Benson, Clare Kramer, Emma Caulfield, and even the show’s star Sarah Michelle Gellar have expressed support for Carpenter and reaffirmed that the work environment on the show was hostile and toxic.
Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Buffy’s younger sister, also came out in support of Carpenter, saying that Whedon’s behavior on set had been traumatizing for her as a teenager, and was inappropriate. She later made a follow-up statement alleging that at some point, a rule had been made on set that Whedon was not allowed to be alone in a room with Trachtenberg ever again.
It’s a somewhat surprising turn of events. ThoughWhedon has been accused of inappropriate behaviorby Ray Fisher, the story has mostly focused on Fisher himself as Whedon kept his head down. Now, it seems as though Whedon may have a long history of controversy that has been swept under the rug. It remains to be seen if these accusations will have an adverse effect on Whedon’s career, and whether or not more actors will come forward.
