Joss Whedon considers him one of the most beautiful showrunners to ever live.
That’s what he said to a writer New York magazine, anyway. In a filing released Monday, the disgraced filmmaker and presenter broke his silence for the first time on the alleged misconduct that took place everywhere from the rooms of writer to the bedroom.
Whedon was a man too big and beloved to fail — a “guru on the hill,” according to one Buffy the Vampire Slayer Writer. He has been loved by fans and critics alike Buffy his era and also his time as a producer of blockbuster superhero movies like Marvel The Avengers in 2012 and DC’s Alliance justice in 2017. However, that same year, will be the beginning of the end.
The flood unfolded when Whedon’s ex-wife, Kai Cole, accused him of being unfaithful and called him “a hypocrite preaching feminist ideals.” in a 2017 guest blog post for The Wrap. A series of abuse allegations have since been leveled against him by a host of people who knew him, including Alliance justice actors Ray Fisher and Gal Gadot.
Now, he “fears every word that comes out of my mouth,” fearing any slip of the tongue will be used against him. But he’s still talking.
In between making excuses for himself for repeated trips to the bathroom (a trick gifted to him by someone who recommended it as an answer to nasty questions), Whedon recounted some his “horror and shit story” as he joked. New York, back to the woman who raised him. Are from Alliance justiceCyborg Ray Fisher, whom Whedon calls “a bad actor in both senses,” to his ex-wife, whom he indirectly blames for Snyder’s foul behavior, a lot of people have been caught in the dragnet. his.
Joss Whedon and his then-wife Kai Cole arrive at a screening of “Buffy The Musical” in 2001.
Jason Kirk / Getty
Whedon said his family of “admirable monsters” has left him with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Whedon frequently cites his mother, Lee Stearns, as the inspiration for the stories of strong women he once celebrated. Although he called her “extraordinary” and “sexy” in 2006, he said New York recent Stearns can also be “erratic and withholding.” Whedon’s parents gave him “no structure” and “no safety”, he said, not teaching him to swim even after a boy he played with as a child drowned at his family’s second home. His brothers, “admirable monsters” in his own words, “bullied” him too, so much so that he spent the long morning “making meticulous calculations.” “for them.
In his estimation, that family dynamic turned him into a “hideous little homunculus trying to annoy people,” as he told one biographer. “People like Joss make up for hurting others in exchange for their energy,” says one of Whedon’s former partners. New York, “And take their energy to keep going – to keep them alive, almost. That’s why he’s so good at reporting on vampires.”
Whedon made with a Buffy actress on a colleague’s office floor — while she’s trying to work at her desk.
It is well documented that, in workplaces he controlled, Whedon regularly mocked writers about what he saw as side work until they cried. He forced one woman, in front of the rest of the letter-writing staff, “basically 90 minutes of cruel taunts,” she said. New York. But the accusations of his disrespect for the people he worked with go back much longer than previously reported.
An anonymous and “senior” Buffy The production team member recalled an incident when Whedon and a young actress on the show entered her office while she was working. Without a doubt, she heard a noise and turned to find the couple lying on her floor. “They would bang on my chair,” she said. “How can you concentrate? It’s gross.” After this happened more than once, the production member left Buffy without waiting for another job to materialize.
When New York Bringing up the subject to Whedon, he replied, “That seems wrong. I don’t understand that story even a little bit.” Then he used the excuse to go to the bathroom.
Whedon denied Gal Gadot’s accusations that he “threatened” to make her career “miserable”, blaming her failure to understand English.
Whedon allegedly made his threat after Gadot raised “many concerns” about the amendment Alliance justice script. “I don’t threaten people. Who did that?” he asked New York. Instead, he said, it was misinformation: “English is not her native language, and I tend to be uncomfortably flowery in my speech.”
He explained that an argument over a scene she wanted to cut led to a similar misunderstanding. Whedon joked that if Gadot wanted to cut the scene, she would have to tie him to a rail—on his corpse the scene would be cut. “Then I was told that I said something about her dead body and being tied up hers to the rails,” he said. Gadot replied in an email to New York that she “understood” [Whedon] perfect” in the heated exchange.)
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Gal Gadot at the 2017 premiere of “Wonder Woman”
Frazer Harrison / Getty
Whedon called Alliance justice actor Ray Fisher “an evil force” in response Fisher’s accusations
Fisher, who plays Cyborg, accused Whedon of abusing his power on set. The director also cut out important scenes from Alliance justice, Fisher said, reducing his part to a series of stereotypes. Whedon has denied the actor’s allegations, says that Cyborg’s plot “logically makes no sense.” The filmmaker claims he took the time to respectfully discuss the revisions with Fisher. He was stunned by the actor’s claims when they appeared in 2020. “We’re talking about an evil force,” Whedon said by explanation. “We’re talking about a bad actor in both senses.”
Whedon said he is currently weighing the decision to help rewrite and reboot Alliance justice one of the biggest regrets of his life. Snyder fans have maliciously attacked him online, especially for claiming he is a terrible feminist. Whedon dismissed the controversy as the product of Kai Cole’s smearing of him. “They don’t care about feminism,” he said of Snyder fans. “I’ve been targeted by my ex-wife, and people have exploited that cynically.”
Whedon broke up with a girlfriend by re-enacting her previous worst breakup “just to show” he could.
Whedon and sex educator Arden Leigh met in 2012, after she picked him up at a club. She and Whedon embarked on a consensual “master and doll” relationship, which Leigh said she was satisfied with. Three years later, Whedon parted ways with Leigh by recreating a horrifying memory she wrote about in her book about being a female pickup artist, New Rules of Attraction. She recounts in the ending, a boyfriend ended it all on her birthday. Leigh said she and Whedon had talked about the scene before.
Just hours before she celebrates her birthday in 2015, Leigh said New York, Whedon comes to her house and ends their relationship. “If he’s like, What can I do about Arden this will be her worst nightmare?, That was possible,” Leigh explained. “Joss destroyed something beautiful just to show how powerful he is. That’s really everything you need to know about him.” Whedon told New York he does not want to discuss the details of his previous relationships with women.
