Joss Whedon Is a ‘Hypocrite Preaching Feminist Ideals,’ Ex-Wife Kai Cole Says

[Osiris-Rex]

Albert Einstein was a terrible husband, cheated on his wife with his first cousin, left her and married his first cousin, and cheated on her too.
If you lift the robe, most of out heroes have feet of clay. Doesn't make the theory of relativity any less valid.

[AndrewCrossett]

I have yet to see any news outlet even entertain the possibility that Kai Cole's accusations are anything other than divine truth, delivered from the mouth of Athena herself.

It must be cool to be SO DAMN WOKE that no side exists to any story except the one that makes you angry.

[Old Man Ollie 1962]

He's writing and directing Batgirl, correct?

[AndrewCrossett]

He's writing and directing Batgirl, correct?

So far...

10char

[Totoro Man]

I figured that Whedon was a "feminist" in the same way that Bowie was "gay": that is to say they both used this aspect of their public persona to promote their work and develop a loyal fanbase. they were being true to themselves and their endless self-promotion moreso than to the ideas that were being "represented".

per the ex-wife: bad-mouthing an ex is totally understandable.... among friends and family. doing so to journalists is not the same thing. libel and slander do have legal consequences... and here's the thing, you can be telling the truth and it's still libel and slander.

[Colossus1980]

I'm siding with the ex-wife here. Whedon has been surrounded with temptation for decades. Of course he's going to cheat and many times at that. I get that she's full of rage and anger at his infidelities. Probably should have kept quiet but she's only human.

[SiegePerilous02]

Well you say that, but back when I frequented Buffy fandom 15 years or so back, the gossip was that Joss had pursued Alyson Hannigan, who turned him down, and that he had gone on to have an affair with Charisma Carpenter.

I heard the Hannigan rumors, but this is the first I'm hearing about Carpenter.

I wonder if Dushku and Acker are "suspects"?

[AndrewCrossett]

Of course they are. They ALL are. Which is why these vague allegations are so irresponsible. She has the "courage" to slag her ex, but not to name names when a libel suit might result. And so all those actresses are going to be getting the side-eye.

Back-handed slut shaming of all these women is hardly my idea of feminist heroism.

[Baseman]

Of course they are. They ALL are. Which is why these vague allegations are so irresponsible. She has the "courage" to slag her ex, but not to name names when a libel suit might result. And so all those actresses are going to be getting the side-eye.

Back-handed slut shaming of all these women is hardly my idea of feminist heroism.

No chance anyone's getting sued over this.A lawsuit is just going make things worse.

Best to let this go and let the internet move on to the next scandal.

As for the feminist angle,meh. What's feminist and what's not seems pretty subjective these days.

[Agent Z]

If Whedon cheated, that makes him a jerk in that instance, but to declare his work as overall non-feminist due to this is a bit ridiculous. People are complicated, he can produce great progressive art and still not be a saint in his personal life. Our society tends to villify cheating to a ridiculous degree, IMO. It's a really shitty thing to do, don't get me wrong, but it's ultimately between the two people in the relationship, and I think guilt and the relationship ending would be punishment enough. Especially if the cheater isn't a bad person in general, it's a mistake that shouldn't define who they are a person. Whedon didn't cheat on us, so who the Hell cares?

Now if he used his position to sleep with young actresses...that's pretty skeevy. But we don't know for certain that is the case. I'm really curious to see who they allegedly are. It can't be Carpenter, because she would have blown this whistle when he fired her.

If Carpenter was one of them do you think she'd have had the influence to get away with such an allegation? Would any actress? A lot of the time the reason stuff like this stays secret is because the people taken advantage of don't have a prayer of getting anyone to believe them

[Agent Z]

Of course they are. They ALL are. Which is why these vague allegations are so irresponsible. She has the "courage" to slag her ex, but not to name names when a libel suit might result. And so all those actresses are going to be getting the side-eye.

Back-handed slut shaming of all these women is hardly my idea of feminist heroism.

How is what she is doing slut shaming? She's putting the blame solely on Whedon not the women he cheated with

[AndrewCrossett]

How is what she is doing slut shaming? She's putting the blame solely on Whedon not the women he cheated with

It takes two to cheat, and presumably all of those actresses were aware he was married.

[Dr Will Hatch]

Although this is a more concrete thing, this is very much in line with what I've read some people (usually woman who are self-described feminists) say about Whedon for several years yet, often pointing out flaws and discrepancies in his supposed feminist messages and his deflecting of any criticism of those things.

- but, these people almost all say that they still love Buffy and that that show was an important part of their life and will remain so. The sad truth is that very often the creators who produce works that enrich our lives have personal failings. Isn't that old saying "don't meet your heroes" ?

I'm not a woman, but otherwise this is all me. I'm a hardcore Buffy and Whedon fan in general, but this news didn't surprise me in the least. The subtext is all there in his work, and there were plenty of red flags throughout his career, like when he fired Charisma Carpenter during Angel for being pregnant.

[numberthirty]

It takes two to cheat, and presumably all of those actresses were aware he was married.

It also sets up a situation where you are trying to hold adult women who have probably matured accountable for something that may have happened when they were much younger.

It's just a bad scene.

[Agent Z]

It takes two to cheat, and presumably all of those actresses were aware he was married.

Okay that still does not mean she's slug shaming these women.

And yeah it takes two to cheat. But remember that Whedon was a figure of authority in the industry and presumably all these women were rather young