Charisma Carpenter opens up about mistreatment from Joss Whedon

[DrNewGod]

My question is, was he a trash bag while filming the first two Avengers movies? I find it hard to believe folks like Chris Evans ( who is pretty vocal about issues on social media) or Robert Downey, or Mark Ruffalo would stand by and say nothing about his abusive ways if they saw it on set. Maybe Joss hid his garbage persona around them but was awful to others?...

Evans is not the type to speak out unless it's a Trump-level thing. Ruffalo is more outspoken but probably doesn't want to rock the boat. Scar Jo is a much bigger name and he can't mess with her like he did with other younger, less experienced actresses. Olsen was not a household name until Avengers but she doesn't strike me as someone whom Whedon could 'get away' with harassing. RDJr doesn't strike me as the guy who would go public but try to mend things in-houses.

I think in Avengers case, the 'Marvel Parliament' that oversees these movies; Fiege, Louis D'Esposito and all the other producers in that think-tank, probably had something to do with reigning in his worse tendencies.

IMO, John Venus hits some key points: predators aren't interested in fair fights, they stalk prey. Whedon probably didn't see a viable victim in that whole bunch, and had a lot less power versus the boys upstairs compared to when he was making his Buffy-verse shows. Not so much Angel, but BtVS was something of - not only a surprise hit - a cultural phenom at the time; college classes were being taught about its impact on English language. I imagine he enjoyed some leverage with the suits that just wasn't there with Marvel Studios, let alone Disney.

[stargazer01]

Between Carpenter, Fisher, Benson and Whedon's own exwife it seems to be harder and harder to deny he's a scumbag, even if one likes his TV shows and movies.

IMO, he even has the face of one.. Like Tarantino..

[Valentis]

Joss Whedon asked her if she was going to keep the baby. What did he want? How often do you see married happy women getting abortions?

I cannot believe Whedon sunk so low to intimidate Carpenter, He is a disgrace.

[stargazer01]

The way I see it, there are two ways to go.

I can stop watching or reading any TV shows, movies, books, comics, etc. because the creator will eventually be revealed to be a scumbag in some way shape or form (because everyone is... some just never get caught).

Or, I can declare outrage bankruptcy, decide that other people's personal problems are their own business, and that my business is entertaining myself anyway I can.

I hereby choose the latter.

This too. Unless it's something criminal, there is a lot of a-holes out there in the business and in general. If I want someone perfect, I'm not going to find it. Most of the actors, singers I like, have done or said something that disappointed me. So I rather separate the art from the person as much as possible. Otherwise, I won't be able to enjoy anything. Imagine if Hitchcock lived today... he was supposedly an awful person, but he's a very loved director...

[The Cool Thatguy]

This too. Unless it's something criminal, there is a lot of a-holes out there in the business and in general. If I want someone perfect, I'm not going to find it. Most of the actors, singers I like, have done or said something that disappointed me. So I rather separate the art from the person as much as possible. Otherwise, I won't be able to enjoy anything. Imagine if Hitchcock lived today... he was supposedly an awful person, but he's a very loved director...

Hitchcock'c crap was/is far and away worse than anything Whedon stands accused of. If he did that today, he probably ought to be in jail.

[SiegePerilous02]

IMO, he even has the face of one.. Like Tarantino..

He definitely does.

I still like Tarantino though even if he should have some actual repercussions.

[Powerboy]

Hitchcock'c crap was/is far and away worse than anything Whedon stands accused of. If he did that today, he probably ought to be in jail.

Steven Seagal is just as bad and got away with it for years even when it involved well-known actresses. There's even a guy he assaulted for laughing at his arrogance. I really hope the story about him trying that on Tyler Mane and getting beaten senseless is true.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

Saw on the main page that on Buffy they had a rule that Whedon couldn't be alone with the actress that played Dawn...wonder how his brother will respond or if any of the ladies from Agents of Shield had any stories or did he not have a big influence over there...

[AndrewCrossett]

Saw on the main page that on Buffy they had a rule that Whedon couldn't be alone with the actress that played Dawn...wonder how his brother will respond or if any of the ladies from Agents of Shield had any stories or did he not have a big influence over there...

I don't think he had any presence of the AoS set after the pilot.

[Powerboy]

I don't think he had any presence of the AoS set after the pilot.

Yes. From an interview a while back, I got the feeling he didn't even follow what was happening on AoS after the first little while.

Kind of like when Stan Lee was listed as, I think, an executive producer on AoS but admitted in an interview that he had nothing to do with the show, was told it was decent and decided he'd catch an episode when he could because he had not even watched it.

[mattperiolat]

Also who knows the real reasons he left Marvel. There *may* have been incidents that got buried by both sides.

There is... something. And it’s right from Whedon’s mouth on the Age of Ultron commentary and is a big reason I instantly believed Charisma. He was talking about how he had all these plans for action scenes and plot lines around the Black Widow character. And then he says “Then, she had to go and get herself pregnant.”

It’s not on set, it’s not directly at ScarJo, but there it is again. The same mentality that Charisma is talking about. And now, especially with Michelle’s comments, I dread to find out who else he did this to and how deep the swamp really is.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

I think that part of the Charisma bit was that in that season of Angel she was going to be the big bad for the season and so she was starting to train to do the action scenes and all of that but then had to stop obviously because she was pregnant so they had to rewrite much of the season and they had the whole Connor relationship, not defending Whedon just giving more info on the situation, doesn't mean that she deserved what she got...

[WebLurker]

There is... something. And it’s right from Whedon’s mouth on the Age of Ultron commentary and is a big reason I instantly believed Charisma. He was talking about how he had all these plans for action scenes and plot lines around the Black Widow character. And then he says “Then, she had to go and get herself pregnant.”

It’s not on set, it’s not directly at ScarJo, but there it is again. The same mentality that Charisma is talking about. And now, especially with Michelle’s comments, I dread to find out who else he did this to and how deep the swamp really is.

And there's a reason that movies employ stunt doubles. Not a good look, even for someone pure as the driven snow.

[j9ac9k]

Buffy, Angel and Firefly are three of my favorite shows of all time, so this thing just makes me sad.

It's a bit crazy though that there'd even be a rule that he wasn't allowed to be alone with Trachtenberg. You'd think if any situation necessitated that rule, he simply should have been dismissed right then. But yeah, he was too important for that to happen, right?

[Common Writer]

Buffy, Angel and Firefly are three of my favorite shows of all time, so this thing just makes me sad.

It's a bit crazy though that there'd even be a rule that he wasn't allowed to be alone with Trachtenberg. You'd think if any situation necessitated that rule, he simply should have been dismissed right then. But yeah, he was too important for that to happen, right?

Maybe it's good that Firefly got canceled as fast as it did. This left Summer Glau, Jewel Staite, Gina Torres, and Morena Baccarin to be spared from years and years of Whedon's abuse.

Or maybe they weren't.

Either way, these actors have enough material to write a Lifetime movie about Joss.

It makes one wonder: Aren't their HR Representatives on television sets? if so, where the hell was they during all of this?