The rise and fall of Joss Whedon is a complicated yarn with many tangles. Those tangles have since turned to knots as the once-celebrated creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer has become a shadow of his former glory after a bout of damning stories tanked his career and public image. Before these tales of narcissism, abuse, and infidelity became headline fodder for every entertainment outlet across the spectrum, Whedon was untouchable and was considered by many to be a god among creators of the fantastic and forward-thinking.
Oh, how the mighty hath fallen.
In 2017, Whedon’s ex-wife, Kai Cole, published an open letter about him that turned the taste of Whedon’s good name to ash inside the mouths of fans. In her letter, Cole described Whedon as a “hypocrite preaching feminist ideals” and accused him of cheating on her throughout their marriage, including with actresses on the set of Buffy. Then, in 2020, actors Ray Fisher and Gal Gadot, who had worked with Whedon on Justice League, claimed that he mistreated them on several occasions. Fisher even went so far as to describe Whedon’s behavior as “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.”
With Whedon’s dirty laundry laid out for all to see, the time had finally come for Buffy actress Charisma Carpenter to speak her truth about her experiences with the famed filmmaker. On her personal Instagram account, Carpenter said that Whedon had a “history of being casually cruel.” She then went on to describe an uncomfortable altercation that transpired after Carpenter had become pregnant.
You can read Carpenter’s post in full below:
Why are we rehashing the sins of Joss Whedon’s past on this sleepy Monday afternoon? It’s because this past spring, Whedon sat down with Vulture‘s own Lila Shapiro for his first in-depth interview in quite some time. In the write-up, Shapiro describes Whedon as looking “pale and angular with bags under his eyes.” This is far from the mental image that many have of Whedon, who is typically thought of as “doughy” and “jowly.” As they sat down to talk about the many issues plaguing his tattered career, Whedon confessed that he was “terrified of every word” that was about to come out of his mouth.
When asked about several of the allegations lobbied against him, Whedon admitted that he wasn’t as “civilized” back then.
The following is taken from Shapiro’s report:
“I was young,” Whedon said. “I yelled, and sometimes you had to yell. This was a very young cast, and it was easy for everything to turn into a cocktail party.” He said he would never intentionally humiliate anyone. “If I am upsetting somebody, it will be a problem for me.” The costume designer who said he’d grabbed her arm? “I don’t believe that,” he said, shaking his head. “I know I would get angry, but I was never physical with people.” Had he made out with an actress on the floor of someone’s office? “That seems false. I don’t understand that story even a little bit.” He removed his glasses and rubbed his face. “I should run to the loo.” When he came back, he said the story didn’t make sense to him because he “lived in terror” of his affairs being discovered.
When the conversation turned to the set of Justice League, Whedon appeared even more uncomfortable than he was before. Whedon had replaced Zack Snyder as the director of Justice League after Snyder’s daughter died by suicide. Snyder stepped away from the project to grieve. Meanwhile, Whedon was put in charge of an extensive amount of reshoots to change the overall tone of Snyder’s film. Whedon, someone who is notorious for wanting his actors to read lines that he’d written verbatim, reportedly had a big problem with their being improvisation on set. One actor who pushed back against Whedon’s demands was Gal Gadot. After Gadot and Whedon had exchanged words, Gadot said that he had insulted her, and even threatened the future of her career. One crew member on the set of Justice League said he’d heard Whedon say that he’d never worked with “a ruder group of people” than the Justice League cast.
Whedon told Shapiro that the altercation with Gadot didn’t happen the way the actress had claimed. “I don’t threaten people. Who does that?” He then went on to say that “English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.” Wow! If Whedon was hoping to clear the air with this interview, someone should have told him not to bring a fog machine. Good grief.
Whedon then recalled arguing over a scene Gadot wanted to cut. He told her jokingly that if she wanted to get rid of it, she would have to tie him to a railroad track and do it over his dead body. “Then I was told that I had said something about her dead body and tying her to the railroad track,” he said. (Gadot did not agree with Whedon’s version of events. “I understood perfectly,”
When it came time to explain why he cut significant portions of Cyborg’s (Ray Fisher) role in Justice League, he said the character’s storyline “logically made no sense,” and that he thought Fisher’s acting was bad. Whedon insists that he’d spent hours with Fisher as the two tried to discuss changes to Cyborg’s story and that those conversations were friendly and respectful. In fact, according to Whedon, none of the accusations Fisher made to media outlets at the time of his outcry were “either true or merited discussing.” The way Whedon sees it, he can only think of one explanation for Fisher’s behavior. “We’re talking about a malevolent force,” he said. “We’re talking about a bad actor in both senses.”
“Nobody ever fell from a pedestal into anything but a pit,” Whedon told Shapiro about all that had transpired.
For much, much more about Whedon’s current state of mind and views about how his celebrity has been obliterated in recent years, be sure to check out Lila Shapiro’s full report. It’s a damning read that is well worth your time. As for Whedon, I’m not sure what he was thinking when he agreed to this interview. It certainly doesn’t paint him as a mighty phoenix that will once day rise from the ashes, burning brighter than ever before.