Posted in: BBC, CW, streaming, TV, YouTube | Tagged: Anthony Head, bleeding cool, buffy, buffy the vampire slayer, cable, charisma carpenter, cordelia, emma caulfield, giles, joss whedon, sarah michelle gellar, streaming, television, tv

Buffy Stars Emma Caulfield, Anthony Head on Whedon Abuse Accusations

A day after Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel star Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia) went public with accusations against Joss Whedon of years of unprofessional and abusive behavior and series stars Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn Summers), and Amber Benson (Tara Maclay) came forward to support Carpenter, Emma Caulfield (Anya) and Anthony Head (Rupert Giles) have also gone public with their reactions. On Instagram Stories, Caulfield reposted Gellar's original post distancing herself from Whedon and supporting survivors of abuse with the caption, "In the wise words of my friend [Sarah Michelle Gellar]" (which you can see below);

Meanwhile, Head was asked about the matter during Thursday's edition of This Morning (starting at the 3:50 mark in the video below), with the actor admitted he was shocked because he admits that he wasn't aware of the issues during filming on the series.- but also makes it clear that doesn't mean it didn't happen. "I have been up most of the night just running through my memories thinking 'What did I miss?'. This is not a man saying 'I didn't see it so it didn't happen'." Saying that he's "really sad if people went through these experiences," Head continued, "I am gutted, I'm seriously gutted because one of my memories, my fondest memory was the fact that it was so empowering. Not just with the words in the script, but the family feel of the show." For the actor, what's hitting him the hardest is that he saw himself as a "father figure" on the set yet he says he was left unaware of what was allegedly going on. "I would hope that someone would come to me and say, 'I'm struggling, I just had a horrible conversation'," Head explained.

Waiting "for nearly two decades" before speaking up, Carpenter claimed in her social media posts, "Joss Whedon abused his power on numerous occasions while working on the sets of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Angel.' While he found his conduct amusing, it only served to intensify my performance anxiety, disempower me, and alienate me from my peers. The disturbing incidents triggered a chronic physical condition from which I still suffer. It is with a beating, heavy heart that I say I coped in isolation and, at times, destructively." You can read Carpenter's entire statement below, where the actress goes on to offer examples of her allegations as well as revealing that she took part in WarnerMedia's investigation into Fisher's claims.

Here's a look at the Buffy and Angel star's original tweets from earlier today:

On July 1, 2020, Fisher aka Cyborg took to Twitter to accuse Whedon of being abusive on the 2017 set not long after Whedon took over from Zack Snyder (who left the production due to a family tragedy), and that two other executives helped enable Whedon's alleged actions. WarnerMedia opened an investigation into Fisher's allegations, but in early September the company claimed that Fished wasn't cooperating with third-party investigators Fisher denied those claims, while friends co-stars such as Jason Mamoa began publically supporting Fisher and demanding WarnerMedia take action.

Then on November 24, word came down from Whedon that he was stepping away from his upcoming HBO series The Nevers. Whedon cited "the level of commitment required moving forward, combined with the physical challenges of making such a huge show during a global pandemic" as being a major factor in his decision. "This year of unprecedented challenges has impacted my life and perspective in ways I could never have imagined, and while developing and producing the Nevers has been a joyful experience, I realize that the level of commitment required moving forward, combined with the physical challenges of making such a huge show during a global pandemic, is more than I can handle without the work beginning to suffer. I am genuinely exhausted and am stepping back to martial my energy towards my own life, which is also at the brink of exciting change," Whedon wrote in his own statement.

Whedon continued, "I am deeply proud of the work we have done; I'm grateful to all my extraordinary cast and collaborators, and to HBO for the opportunity to shape yet another strange world. The Nevers is a true labor of love, but after two-plus years of labor, love is about all I have to offer. It will never fade." HBO confirmed in a brief statement that it had parted ways with the show's creator, writer, director, executive producer, and showrunner. "We have parted ways with Joss Whedon. We remain excited about the future of The Nevers and look forward to its premiere," wrote the cable network in a statement.

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