Charisma Carpenter has responded to Joss Whedon after he discussed allegations of misconduct against him in a recent interview.
The actor, known for playing Cordelia Chase in Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel, had previously claimed Whedon called her “fat” when she was four months pregnant.
Speaking about Carpenter in an interview with Vulture, Whedon said: “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. I did not call her fat.”
Following the interview, Carpenter released a statement on social media calling the Buffy creator a “tyrannical narcissistic boss”, while supporting Justice League actor Ray Fisher who has also accused Whedon of “problematic behaviour”.
(@charismacarpenter)In the post, Carpenter wrote: “#IStandWithRayFisher. The ‘malevolent force’ and ‘bad actor in both senses’ who poisoned my feeble mind with trendy buzzwords and corrupt ideas about my experiences with a former tyrannical narcissistic boss who is still unable to be accountable and just apologise.”
In February last year, Carpenter claimed Whedon “abused his power on numerous occasions” while filming Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel, saying he “manipulatively weaponised my womanhood and faith against me”.
In the Vulture article, Whedon acknowledged he was not “civilised” at the time. “I was young,” said the director. “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.”
Fisher has since posted on social media in support of Carpenter, referring to comments from Whedon about him in the interview. writing: “#IStandWithCharismaCarpenter who (like this ‘bad actor in both senses’) has no urgency in determining matters of abuse or race, but for the influence of a White male shadow puppeteer.”
#IStandWithCharismaCarpenter who (like this “bad actor in both senses”) has no agency in determining matters of abuse or race, but for the influence of a White male shadow puppeteer.@NYMag and @lilapearl should be ashamed for regurgitating this nonsense.
A>E https://t.co/GQnL9zFyty pic.twitter.com/KZRku36wNQ
— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) January 18, 2022
His Justice League co-star, Gal Gadot, has previously claimed Whedon threatened to harm her career during a dispute while filming. In response, Whedon denied the accusation, believing Gadot, whose native language is Hebrew, misunderstood his comments.
“I don’t threaten people,” Whedon said. “Who does that? English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.”
Gadot responded by saying she “understood perfectly”, and was later supported by Carpenter on Instagram.
“I believe Gal Gadot not only understands career threats in English but also in Hebrew and Arabic. Possibly French, Spanish, and Italian too,” Carpenter wrote.
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