Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar has explained her decision to remain silent regarding the slew of allegations leveled against her former showrunner Joss Whedon. Whedon first began his career as a staff writer on sitcoms like Rosanne and Parenthood before moving on to become a script consultant and screenwriter. As well as working uncredited on films such as Speed, Waterworld, and Twister, he co-wrote the Academy Award-winning Pixar film Toy Story. In 1997, he created his first television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, loosely based on the 1992 film of the same name, which he also wrote.
Once praised for his quippy dialogue and use of strong female characters, Whedon has recently come under fire due to a series of allegations of on-set abuse and professional misconduct. Justice League actor Ray Fisher was one of the first to speak out against Whedon, describing what he called “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable” behavior. Following Fisher’s public allegations, further accusations were leveled against the filmmaker dating back to his time on Buffy. A chorus of aggrieved cast and crew members would come forward with their own stories of Whedon’s alleged abusive behavior, including Charisma Carpenter, James Marsters, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Gellar’s own costume designer, Cynthia Bergstrom.
While Gellar would come to publicly support her former co-stars in relation to their own claims, the actress has remained notably tight-lipped about whether she herself was on the receiving end of Whedon’s alleged unprofessional conduct. Recently Gellar spoke with the New York Times about the matter, and while she says that she has had her “fair share of experiences,” she has chosen not to share them publicly. As for her reasons for remaining tight-lipped, she cites society’s tendency to resort to “victim blaming and shaming” as the rationale behind her decision to keep her experiences to herself. Check out her comments below:
Growing up in New York, I had a little bit of street sense going into it, which is helpful. But no, it was not easy. And I’ve had my fair share of experiences, I have just chosen not — I don’t win by telling my stories, emotionally, for me. I look at people that tell their stories, and I’m so impressed. But in this world where people get torn apart, and victim blaming and shaming, I just keep my stories in here.
With multiple allegations already leveled against him, it would likely come as little surprise that Gellar possibly has stories of her own regarding her time working with Whedon on the Buffy set. The actress has made it clear, however, that unlike Carpenter and many of her other former co-workers, she has made the decision to remain quiet about the particulars of any encounters that she may potentially have faced over the years. The decision to publicly share such stories takes an inordinate amount of courage given the potential for public backlash, and Gellar’s decision to remain tight-lipped should also be respected.
Meanwhile, in the wake of this most recent addition to the ongoing Whedon saga, Buffy fans will continue to struggle to find ways to reconcile Whedon’s alleged abusive actions with his creative legacy. Separating the art from the artist who creates it can often be a difficult task for fans who discover less than flattering things about some of their favorite creative minds, but Buffy the Vampire Slayer is also the result of hundreds of people’s hard work beyond that of Whedon himself. As Gellar has previously stated, she remains proud to be associated with Buffy Summers, she just does not wish to be “forever associated with the name Joss Whedon.”
Source: New York Times