Charisma Carpenter has weighed in on New York magazine’s Joss Whedon cover story, observing that her “former tyrannical narcissistic boss… is still unable to be accountable and just apologize.”
In a series of interviews conducted last spring, Whedon addressed allegations from Carpenter and other cast/crew from TV series including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Dollhouse, as well as claims made by Justice League film stars Ray Fisher and Gal Gadot.
Regarding the very specific allegations laid out by Carpenter in February 2021 — including that the prolific showrunner created “hostile and toxic work environments” — Whedon admitted that he was “not mannerly” but claimed he “did not call her fat” during her Angel Season 4 pregnancy. Further, Whedon suggested, “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.”
Elsewhere in the 9,000-word New York profile, it was reported that “Whedon’s advocates” believe that Justice League actor Ray Fisher’s public attacks on the writer/director were an orchestrated part of some pro-Zack Snyder “campaign” that “poisoned Carpenter against Whedon, causing her to see the complicated story of their relationship as a simplistic narrative of abuse.”
Whedon told the mag that none of the claims Fisher had made in the media were “either true or merited discussing,” but rather the opinions of “a malevolent force. We’re talking about a bad actor in both senses,” he said.
Carpenter in her Tuesday response used sarcasm to mock that characterization of her susceptibility and sincerity, writing, “#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 apologize.”
Carpenter also stood up for Justice League‘s Gal Gadot, who last May had alleged that Whedon threatened her career while working on the superhero team-up film. “I don’t threaten people,” Whedon told New York, before suggesting that Gadot misunderstood something else he had said. “English is not her first language,” he stated, “and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.”
To that, Carpenter wrote, “I believe Gal Gadot not only understands career threats in English, but also in Hebrew and Arabic. Possibly French, Spanish and Italian too.”
You can read our previous synopsis of Whedon’s reactions to Carpenter, Michelle Trachtenberg and other former cast here.