Joss Whedon has had enough of the allegations. After keeping a low profile, Whedon is ready to break his silence and address some of the accusations he’s received over the years, from his years as showrunner for Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the recent Justice League movie that he took over from director Zack Snyder.
In an interview with New York magazine, Whedon denied ever threatening Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot’s career when working with her on Justice League.
“I don’t threaten people. Who does that?” said Whedon. “English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.”
Whedon said he told Gadot that she would have to tie his body to a railroad track before he would cut a scene she wanted to be removed and that Gadot misunderstood as Whedon threatening to tie her to a track instead. When asked for a response, Gadot said she understood perfectly.
Whedon’s career took a much bigger hit when Ray Fisher, another Justice League actor came forward to describe the director as “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable”. Whedon was also accused of lightening the colour of the actor’s skin tone in the movie and for dismissing his concerns when his character Cyborg’s screentime was significantly reduced.
The claims against the director were made publicly on Twitter. The debacle went on for months, with Aquaman, Jason Momoa siding with his fellow co-star, Warner Bros announcing false castings to shift attention from the drama, and Fisher deciding he won’t work on any other project associated with the President of DC films.
To all these allegations, Whedon said: “We’re talking about a malevolent force. We’re talking about a bad actor in both senses.” The 57-year-old director believes that Fisher was operating in bad faith and was attempting to ruin Whedon’s reputation to reconstitute Snyder’s as he was in the midst or releasing Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
The Justice League cast aren’t the only ones with complaints against Whedon. James Marsters, who played Spike in Buffy, shared some of the alarming behaviour Whedon had shown on set.
Buffy actress Charisma Carpenter also said that Whedon was “casually cruel” to her while making Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series Angel, including calling her fat after she became pregnant and asking her if she was “going to keep it.” Several other actors on those shows expressed support for Carpenter. Whedon’s ex-wife also wrote an open letter exposing the director of his unfaithfulness throughout their marriage and his affairs with a Buffy actress.
Whilst Whedon said he was “not mannerly” with Carpterner, he denied ever calling her fat. “Most of my experiences with Charisma were delightful and charming. She struggled sometimes with her lines, but nobody could hit a punch line harder than her.” As for the affair, Whedon admitted to it, but denied any unprofessional behaviour during work as he “lived in terror” that his affairs would be discovered.
With plenty of other allegations piling up against him, including Buffy costume designer Cynthia Bergstrom and Erin Shade, an assistant on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D which Whedon co-created, Whedon has seemingly made peace with himself.
“Could I have done marriage better? Don’t get me started. Could I have been a better showrunner? Absolutely. Should I have been nicer?,” he told New York before saying he had probably been too nice.
People had been using “every weaponizable word of the modern era to make it seem like I was an abusive monster,” he said. “I think I’m one of the nicer showrunners that’s ever been.”
Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.
Natalie
