'Buffy The Vampire Slayer's Charisma Carpenter details abuse allegations against Joss Whedon

Charisma Carpenter, who played Cordelia Chase on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, has come forward with new allegations against Joss Whedon for abusive behaviour. Carpenter is speaking out in support of Justice League star Ray Fisher who came forward with allegations about Whedon’s unprofessional and abusive behaviour on the set of the DC film’s reshoots.

Fisher’s allegations against the director started an investigation within Warner Bros., and more people have come forward with stories detailing Whedon’s alleged toxic behaviour in the workplace. WB announced in December that they had concluded their investigation and were taking remedial action, but didn't provide specifics.

Carpenter posted a lengthy statement to Twitter on Wednesday, sharing her own story and using the hashtag #IStandWithRayFisher. The actress was written off Angel after her real-life pregnancy, but she has never shared the details of what she had to deal with on-set until now. 

“For nearly two decades, I have held my tongue and even made excuses for certain events that traumatize me to this day,” Carpenter began. “Joss Whedon abused his power on numerous occasions while working together on the sets of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. While he found his misconduct amusing, it only served to intensify my performance anxiety, disempower me, and alienate me from my peers.”

Carpenter said that the incidents she experienced with Whedon “triggered a chronic physical condition from which I still suffer.” The actress said that when she saw Fisher publicly accuse Whedon of “abusive and unprofessional behaviour toward the cast and crew” during the 2017 Justice League reshoots, it “gutted” her. 

“Joss has a history of being casually cruel. He has created hostile and toxic work environments since his early career. I know because I experience it first-hand. Repeatedly,” she added.

Carpenter said she faced “ongoing, passive-aggressive threats to fire me,” which wreaked havoc on her self-esteem. She said that he used to call her “fat” to other colleagues when she was four months pregnant. “He was mean and biting, disparaging about others openly, and often played favourites, pitting people against one another to compete and vie for his attention and approval,” she wrote. 

After she got a rosary tattoo, she said that he called her into his office for a sit-down to “interrogate and berate” her for getting the new ink. She also alleged that Whedon intentionally refused to answer phone calls from her agents to discuss that Carpenter was pregnant.

Once he finally learned the news, he called Carpenter into a meeting and asked her if she was “going to keep it,” and she said that he “manipulatively weaponized my womanhood and faith against me.” She said that he proceeded to attack her character, mock her religious beliefs and accuse her of sabotaging the show before firing her once she gave birth.

Carpenter said that she felt “powerless and alone” and swallowed the mistreatment. She said that despite all the harassment she allegedly received, a part of her still wanted Whedon’s validation. “I made excuses for his behaviour and repressed my own pain. I have even stated publicly at conventions that I’d work with him again,” she wrote.

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She said that after years of therapy and “a wake-up call from the Time’s Up movement,” she finally understands the “complexities of his demoralized thinking.”

She continued, “It is impossible to understand the psyche without enduring the abuse. Our society and industry vilify the victims and glorify the abusers for their accomplishments. The onus is on the abused with an expectation to accept and adapt to be employable. No accountability on the transgressor who sails on unscathed. Unrepentant. Remorseless.”

Carpenter said that the memories of her time working with Whedon have weighed on her soul like bricks for nearly half of her life, and she muted herself “in shame and conditioned silence.” She said that she feels an “overwhelming sense of responsibility to Ray and others for remaining private” about her experiences with Whedon. She hopes that coming forward now will help “to create space for the healing for others who I know have experienced similar serialized abuses of power.”

The 50-year-old actress said that she participated in WarnerMedia’s Justice League investigation because she believes that Fisher is telling the truth. “His firing as Cyborg in The Flash was the last straw for me. Although I am not shocked, I am deeply pained by it,” she added. “It troubles and saddens me that in 2021 professionals STILL have to choose between whistleblowing in the workplace and job security.” 

“As a single mother whose family’s livelihood is dependent on my craft, I’m scared. Despite my fear about its impact on my future, I can no longer remain silent. This is overdue and necessary. It is time,” she concluded. 

Carpenter has received support on Twitter from fans as well as Ray Fisher and Amber Benson who played Tara Maclay on Buffy. "Buffy was a toxic environment and it starts at the top. [Charisma Carpenter] is speaking truth and I support her 100%," she wrote. "There was a lot of damage done during that time and many of us are still processing it twenty plus years later."

In July 2020, Fisher alleged that Whedon was abusive towards himself and other members of the Justice League cast and crew. Shorly after Fisher’s tweets, news leaked that his Justice League co-star Jason Momoa would star as Frosty The Snowman in an upcoming WB film. Momoa later said that this rumour was spread in an attempt to distract from Fisher and his claims. He said he had no intention of playing Frosty and that he fully supports Fisher’s claims of abuse against Whedon.

"I just think it’s f--ked up that people released a fake Frosty announcement without my permission to try to distract from Ray Fisher speaking up about the sh---y way we were treated on Justice League reshoots,” Momoa wrote on Instagram. “Serious stuff went down. It needs to be investigated and people need to be held accountable.”

Whedon has not responded to Carpenter’s allegations as of this writing, though Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar, said she "stand[s] with all survivors of abuse" but woud not be making a further statement. 

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