#Joss Whedon Responds to “Toxic” Allegations Made by Buffy Cast Members: “Sometimes You Had to Yell”

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel creator is opening up about allegations leveled against him by people who worked on the two shows.

Charisma Carpenter went public with allegations against Whedon in February 2021, revealing that she stands with Justice League star Ray Fisher following allegations he made about Whedon the year before.

Carpenter alleged that Whedon’s “casually cruel” behavior included threatening to fire her, calling her “fat” when she was four months pregnant, asking her if she was going to “keep” her baby, and firing her after she gave birth.

“Joss has a history of being casually cruel. He has created hostile and toxic work environments since his early career,” Carpenter wrote on Instagram at the time.

“Like his ongoing, passive-aggressive threats to fire me…. And callously calling me ‘fat’ to colleagues when I was four months pregnant, weighing 126 lbs.”

“He was mean and biting, disparaging about others openly, and often played favorites, putting people against one another to compete and vie for his attention and approval.”

At the time, many stars who worked on Buffy and Angel came to Carpenter’s defense.

“Buffy was a toxic environment and it starts at the top…. There was a lot of damage done during that time and many of us are still processing it twenty plus years later,” said Amber Benson who played Tara.

In a lengthy interview with New York magazine, Whedon commented on the allegations against him, saying that he was not “civilized” during his early days working as a TV showrunner.

“I yelled, and sometimes you had to yell,” he said.

“This was a very young cast [on Buffy], and it was easy for everything to turn into a cocktail party.”

Whedon said that he was “not mannerly” in response to the claims from Carpenter, but denied calling “her fat” during her pregnancy.

“Most of my experiences with Charisma were delightful and charming,” he said.

At the time Carpenter came forward, Buffy co-star Michelle Trachtenberg alleged that there was “a rule” on the set of the series that Joss was not allowed to be in a room with her.

Whedon said that he “had no idea what [Trachtenberg] was talking about.”

Whedon also opened up about allegations from Fisher and Gal Gadot, which you can read in the full interview on New York magazine’s website.

Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.