Sarah Michelle Gellar, More ‘Buffy’ Actors Respond to Joss Whedon Allegations: ‘I Stand With All Survivors of Abuse’
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Several “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” stars — including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Amber Benson — have responded to the allegations that the show’s creator Joss Whedon abused his power on the sets of “Buffy,” its spin-off “Angel,” and the DC Films feature “Justice League.”
“While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don’t want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon,” Gellar wrote in a statement on Instagram.
More from Variety
Victorian Women Unleash Superpowers in HBO's 'The Nevers' Trailer
Joss Whedon HBO Series 'The Nevers' Taps Philippa Goslett as New Showrunner
The actor said she will not be making any further statements on the matter, since she is “more focused on raising my family and surviving a pandemic.” But, she added, “I stand with all survivors of abuse and am proud of them for speaking out.”
Gellar’s full statement is below.
Gellar’s “Buffy” co-star Charisma Carpenter posted a lengthy statement to Twitter earlier on Wednesday alleging Whedon “abused his power on numerous occasions” on the set of “Buffy” and “Angel,” including asking her, after learning she was pregnant, if she was “going to keep it.” Carpenter’s pregnancy was incorporated into the show, but after the actor gave birth, she says she was fired.
Carpenter said she came forward in light of the allegations by “Justice League” actor Ray Fisher that Whedon engaged in “gross, abusive, unprofessional and completely unacceptable” behavior on the set of the 2017 superhero film, which Fisher posted to his Twitter feed in July. (Whedon had no comment.) Fisher’s allegations eventually led to an investigation of “Justice League” by WarnerMedia, which Carpenter says she was a part of.
Shortly after Carpenter posted her statement, other “Buffy” co-stars also voiced their support of Carpenter, and alluded to their own allegations of misconduct on the show, which ran from 1997 to 2003 on the WB and UPN (which later merged to the CW).
Trachtenberg, who played Buffy Summers’ young sister Dawn on the show, re-posted Gellar’s statement to her own Instagram feed, and commented that Whedon’s behavior with her “as a teenager” was “not appropriate.”
“Thank you @sarahmgellar for saying this,” Trachtenberg wrote. “I am brave enough now as a 35 year old woman…. To repost this. Because. This must. Be known. As a teenager. With his not appropriate behavior……” Later, Trachtenberg added, “What he did was very bad. But we win. By surviving!”
A rep for Trachtenberg said she has no further comment.
Benson — who played Tara, the girlfriend of wiccan Willow (Alyson Hannigan), and was killed off in Season 6 of “Buffy” — posted to Twitter alleging that the show was a “toxic environment and it starts from the top.”
“There was a lot of damage done during that time and many of us are still processing it twenty plus years later,” Benson wrote.
Clare Kramer, who played the villain Glory on Season 5 of “Buffy,” said on Twitter she stands with Carpenter, Benson, and Fisher “and others who have the strength to come forward with their truth. A lot of this industry needs a reset.”
A rep for Whedon declined to comment on Carpenter’s allegations, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trachtenberg and Benson’s allegations.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
