Apr. 8, 2021 "Joss Whedon Accused of Threatening to Harm Gal Gadot's Career Over 'Justice League' Dispute": Today I found this article by Jose Martinez on Yahoo news:
In a The Hollywood Reporter profile from earlier this week, Justice League director Joss Whedon allegedly threatened to harm Gal Gadot’s career after she expressed “multiple concerns” during reshoots about his portrayal of her character Wonder Woman.
THR cites a “knowledgeable source” who claims Gadot spoke with Whedon about his version of Wonder Woman “being more aggressive” than she was in the Patty Jenkins-directed film that came out five months prior to Justice League’s theatrical release. Gadot reportedly wanted to “make the character flow from one movie to the next,” but this disagreement set the tone for what sources call the biggest clash when Gal was forced by Whedon to say lines she didn’t like.
It was around this time that Whedon allegedly threatened Gadot’s career and denigrated Jenkins. “Joss was bragging that he’s had it out with Gal,” a witness on set said. “He told her he’s the writer and she’s going to shut up and say the lines and he can make her look incredibly stupid in this movie.”
In a statement to THR, Gadot said, “I had my issues with [Whedon] and Warner Bros. handled it in a timely manner.” Her statement echoes similar remarks made in a December interview with the Los Angeles Times while promoting WW84.
“I wasn’t there with the guys when they shot with Joss Whedon — I had my own experience with [him], which wasn’t the best one, but I took care of it there and when it happened,” she said. “I took it to the higher-ups and they took care of it. But I’m happy for Ray to go up and say his truth.”
Gadot references the experiences of her Justice League co-star Ray Fisher, who has been outspoken about Whedon’s “unprofessional” behavior. Warner Bros. launched an investigation into Whedon’s alleged misconduct, but Fisher took issue with how it was being handled, accusing DC Films head Walter Hamada of undermining the process. Fisher has vowed to never work on another DC project as long as Hamada is in charge.
In the same THR profile, a source alleges DC Films co-founder Geoff Johns, who was overseeing the Syfy series Krypton, was opposed to considering Bridgerton breakout star Regé-Jean Page for the role of Superman’s grandfather, despite auditioning for the part, because he thought Superman couldn’t have a Black grandfather.
Jan. 17, 2022 "Joss Whedon Breaks Silence on Misconduct Allegations, Calls Ray Fisher ‘A Bad Actor in Both Senses’": Today I found this article by Adam B. Vary on Yahoo news:
Filmmaker Joss Whedon has broken his silence on the multiple allegations of misconduct against him from productions he oversaw, including the 2017 film “Justice League” and his influential TV series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
In a lengthy interview with New York magazine that published on Monday, Whedon denied Gal Gadot’s allegation that he “threatened” her career while working on “Justice League,” which Whedon took over after original director Zack Snyder withdrew from the film following a family tragedy.
“I don’t threaten people. Who does that?” Whedon told New York. “English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.” Whedon said he told Gadot that she would have to tie his body to a railroad track before he would cut a scene she wanted removed and that Gadot misunderstood as Whedon threatening to tie her to a track instead. Gadot’s response in the story: “I understood perfectly.”
Whedon is less forgiving in his assessment of Ray Fisher. The actor’s July 2020 allegation that Whedon’s behavior making “Justice League” was “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable” was the spark that led to the collapse of Whedon’s career.
In December 2020, Warner Bros. said an investigation into Fisher’s claims resulted in unspecified “remedial action” — weeks after HBO said Whedon was withdrawing as executive producer of “The Nevers.”
Fisher also alleged in a Forbes interview from October that he was told Whedon had lightened an actor of color’s complexion in “Justice League” because he didn’t like the skin tone — which Forbes later retracted.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter published April 2021, after the release of Snyder’s four-hour cut of “Justice League” on HBO Max, Fisher alleged that when he tried to express his concerns about the reduction of his character, Cyborg, in Whedon’s two-hour version of the movie, Whedon told him, “It feels like I’m taking notes right now, and I don’t like taking notes from anybody — not even Robert Downey Jr.”
To New York, Whedon says he had brightened the entire movie, including all the actors’ faces, and that he talked with Fisher for hours about his changes. He says he significantly cut down Fisher’s screen time because Cyborg’s storyline “logically made no sense” and that Fisher’s performance was lacking.
He denied Fisher’s allegations, saying none were “true or merited discussing.” Instead, Whedon claimed that Fisher’s actions were done in bad faith, meant to sully Whedon’s reputation to reconstitute Snyder’s in advance of the release of the Snyder cut.
“We’re talking about a malevolent force,” Whedon said. “We’re talking about a bad actor in both senses.”
Representatives for Fisher did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Variety. However, Fisher directly acknowledged and refuted Whedon’s new statements through his official Twitter late Monday morning.
“Looks like Joss Whedon got to direct an endgame after…” Fisher wrote. “Rather than address all of the lies and buffoonery today — I will be celebrating the legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tomorrow the work continues.”
Fisher’s allegations were followed in February 2021 by actor Charisma Carpenter’s allegation that Whedon was “casually cruel” to her while making “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and its spin-off series “Angel,” including calling her fat after she became pregnant and asking her if she was “going to keep it.”
Several other actors on those shows, including Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Boreanaz, and Eliza Dushku, expressed support for Carpenter, and a subsequent investigation by Variety backed the actor’s story.
Multiple people who worked on both shows said Whedon created a “cult of personality” and that he behaved with scorn and disparagement to employees who displeased him.
A person with direct knowledge of production on “Buffy” corroborated to Variety Michelle Trachtenberg’s claim on Instagram that there was a “rule” she could not be alone with Whedon.
Whedon told New York he was “not mannerly” with Carpenter when she told him she was pregnant, but he denied ever calling her fat. “Most of my experiences with Charisma were delightful and charming,” Whedon said. “She struggled sometimes with her lines, but nobody could hit a punch line harder than her.”
As for Trachtenberg’s allegation, Whedon said he had no idea what that was about.
The New York story also contains several new allegations of workplace misconduct by Whedon.
A member of the “Buffy” production team claimed that Whedon and one of the show’s actors were rolling around on the floor in her office making out, banging against her chair.
Whedon admitted the affair with the actor, but said the story “seems false” because he “lived in terror” that his affairs would be discovered.
“Buffy” costume designer Cynthia Bergstrom said that during Season 5 of the show, she Whedon and Gellar had a dispute over a costume in front of her. “I was like, ‘Joss, let’s just get her dressed,'” Bergstrom said. “He grabbed my arm and dug in his fingers until his fingernails imprinted the skin and I said, ‘You’re hurting me.'”
Whedon said he does not “believe” Bergstrom’s story: “I know I would get angry, but I was never physical with people.”
And Erin Shade, who worked as an assistant on the ABC series “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” which Whedon co-created, said that Whedon engaged her in a secret relationship when she was 23 and he was 49, including paying her $2,500 to watch him write at his home over the weekend, so long as she hid the relationship from her bosses.
Whedon said he “should have handled the situation better.”
This is from my Mar. 2021 blog post:
"#MeToo movement becomes #WeToo in in victim-blaming Japan"/ "Outrage as women in Japan told not wear glasses in the workplace"
"You never look good when you are trying to make someone else look bad."- Unknown
Cham: Sometimes people need to be exposed for who they are hahah or maybe I should stop being petty
Tracy Au: There's a difference between trying to make someone look bad, and exposing them for who they are. It's like those #MeToo accusers and victims, they are plainly telling everybody about the perpetrators. They're not trying to make them look bad.
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