Buffy star Charisma Carpenter calls out ‘tyrannical narcissist’ Joss Whedon for ‘shameful’ interview

Charisma Carpenter has criticised Joss Whedon for the manner in which he has denied allegations made against him.

Since 2020, Avengers director and Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Whedon has been accused of toxic on-set behaviour by Carpenter and Justice League stars Ray Fisher and Gal Gadot.

Carpenter, who played Cordelia in Buffy before moving to its spin-off series Angel, came forward with her own story of “disturbing incidents”, in response to Fisher’s account, in February 2021.

The actor detailed several alleged instances in which Whedon “abused his power” with her throughout her time on both shows, and accused him of “creating hostile and toxic work environments since his early career”.

Carpenter also accused him of mistreating her after discovering she was pregnant.

Whedon denied the claims in a new interview published Monday (11 January). He has been widely criticised for calling Fisher a “malevolent force” and “bad actor in both senses” and for saying that the situation with Gadot arose as English is not the Israeli actor’s “first language”.

Addressing these points on Twitter on Tuesday (18 January), Carpenter called Whedon “a former tyrannical narcissistic boss who is still unable to be accountable and just apologise”.

About Gadot, she wrote: “I believe Gal Gadot not only understands career threats in English, but also in Hebrew and Arabic. Possibly French, Spanish and Italian too.”

Since the interview was published on Monday (17 January), Whedon has been widely criticised, with many calling him “shameful” and “disgusting”.

After Carpenter shared her allegations, several of her co-stars, including Sarah Michelle Gellar, shared their support and denounced Whedon.