UPDATED 2/15, 12:50 p.m. ET: David Boreanaz, who portrayed Angel on both Buffy and his own titular spinoff series, has expressed his support for Charisma Carpenter.
While Boreanaz did not make any comments about Whedon’s alleged abuse, he offered a message of support to Carpenter. “I am here for you to listen and support you,” he wrote in a tweet. “Proud of your strength.”
“I know you’re there for me, David,” Carpenter responded. “I appreciate all you’ve done to demonstrate that support privately as well. Especially since Wednesday. Thank you so much.”
UPDATED 2/12, 1:45 p.m. ET: Eliza Dushku, also a Buffy and Angel alum, took to Instagram to support Charisma Carpenter, opening with, “CC, my heart aches for you & I’m so sorry you have held this for so long. Your post was powerful, painful, and painted a picture we’ll never collectively never un-see or un-know. Thank you. I hadn’t known it and I won’t forget it.”
Dushku remarked on the truth of the phrase “we are as sick as our secrets” and said “profound healing can only come from naming and disclosing what actually happened, the necessary first step (once someone’s ready) to freeing ourselves from our secrets, untold truths which have kept us isolated, ashamed, and held hostage.” The 40-year-old said that avoiding naming “the power/gender/sexual/racial abuse epidemic in the entertainment industry (and for that matter socity in general), enables the abusers and only emboldens and ultimately fortifies abusive systems. … It starts and will end because of courages truth-tellers like you.”
UPDATED 2/10, 4:56 p.m. ET: Buffy actress Michelle Trachtenberg has also accused Joss Whedon of “not appropriate behavior” in a post she made to Instagram.
“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….very. Not. Appropriate.”
See original story below.
Charisma Carpenter is the latest actor to accuse Joss Whedon of abusive behavior.
In a note posted to her Twitter account, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel star claimed that Whedon was frequently manipulative and mean-spirited while running the two series.
Carpenter said that Whedon begrudged her pregnancy and her faith during the show, belittling her for having a child, calling her “fat” while she was pregnant and mocking her rosary tattoo.
“Joss Whedon abused his power on numerous occasions while working on the sets of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel,” she wrote. “While he found his misconduct amusing, it only served to intensify my performance anxiety, disempower me, and alienate me from my peers. The disturbing incidents triggered a chronic physical condition from which I still suffer.”
Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar has joined Carpenter in speaking out against Wheadon, saying in an Instagram post that she “[stands] with all survivors of abuse and am proud of them for speaking out.
“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. I am more focused on raising my family and surviving a pandemic currently, so I will not be making any further statements at this time,” she wrote.
Carpenter claimed she was inspired to come forward with her story following the allegations of actor Ray Fisher. The former Cyborg actor spurred an investigation by Warner Brothers when he claimed Whedon created a toxic set after taking over Justice League from Zack Snyder.
Fisher’s allegations led to unspecified remedial action that Fisher viewed as a good start. In any case, it was enough to bring him back into the fold for Snyder’s reshoots of the film.
