Joss Whedon
That’s what he says about the “Justice League” allegations
Joss Whedon dismisses most accusations from actors and actresses.
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There have been serious allegations against Joss Whedon for two years. The “Justice League” and “Buffy” director has now commented on this.
The allegations against “Justice League” director and “Buffy” inventor Joss Whedon (57) weigh heavily – and they have been doing it for almost two years now. Still, the filmmaker, who also launched the “Avengers” franchise ten years ago, has been slow to comment. In a lengthy cover story for New York magazine Whedon rejects both the harshest accusations from the “Justice League” cast and from “Buffy” star Charisma Carpenter (51).
Regarding Ray Fisher’s allegations
The African American actor Ray Fisher (34), who played the superhero Cyborg in “Justice League”, made the start in 2020. Whedon had previously taken over the direction of his colleague Zack Snyder (55) due to a family tragedy and initiated extensive reshoots. He is said to have behaved inappropriately towards the entire cast and abused his power.
In Fisher’s case, the misconduct also took on racist traits, the actor claimed. For example, that his skin color is said to have been artificially lightened in post-production. In addition, a striking number of scenes of his character subsequently fell victim to the scissors. Whedon now vehemently disagrees. He simply gave the entire film, which was shot very darkly, a brighter look.
Meanwhile, he narrowed down the scenes with Fisher for two reasons. On the one hand, these “didn’t make any sense for logical reasons”, on the other hand he was not satisfied with Fisher’s acting performance. Whedon describes the actor’s allegations as “an insidious force. We’re talking about a bad actor here – on two counts.”
The actor couldn’t leave that uncommented. He made a cynical comment on Twitter: “Looks like Joss Whedon should still shoot an endgame…” Fisher would like to comment in detail on “today’s lies and the posse” in the coming days.
On Gal Gadot’s allegations
Shortly after Fisher’s statements, “Justice League” colleague Gal Gadot (36) rushed to his side. She also accused Whedon of abuse of power. In an interview with the Israeli site “N12” she reported on itas outright threatened by Whedon on set: “He kind of threatened my career and said he was going to ruin it.” That’s not true either, Whedon replies, according to “New York”. “I don’t threaten people, who does that?” the director is quoted as saying.
He suspects there is a misunderstanding behind all this: “English is not her mother tongue and I have the habit of talking flowery and exhaustingly.” Because of a scene that she wanted to have cut out of the film, he told her that this would only happen “over his dead body”. “Then I was told that I supposedly said something about her dead body,” Whedon says. In an email to “New York”, Gadot had already responded to this statement with the words: “I understood him perfectly.”
On the allegations by Charisma Carpenter
But long before the “Justice League” was shot, Whedon was in debt, Charisma Carpenter reported on Instagram in early 2021. She played the character Cordelia Chase in the series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel.” On both sets, Whedon created “toxic and hostile work environments.”
Among other things, he often threatened to fire Carpenter. When she was four months pregnant, he called her “fat”. Behind closed doors, he asked the actress if she “would keep” her baby. Among other things, he made a fool of himself about their religious beliefs. Michelle Trachtenberg (36), who played the younger sister of the titular character Buffy Summers, also reported on a rule that prohibited Whedon from being alone on set with her.
To this day, Whedon has no knowledge of this rule, he says. When it comes to Carpenter, however, he admits (with reservations) that he made mistakes: “I was young. I screamed – but sometimes you had to scream.” He didn’t always show good manners when talking to her, but: “I didn’t call her fat. Of course I didn’t.” Instead, most “experiences with charisma have been warm and charming.” So far, no one from the “Buffy” cast has commented on Whedon’s point of view.