In a career-spanning interview with New York Magazine, Whedon attempts to tell his own story and combat allegations of abuse and toxicity that have followed him since a 2017 open letter was released by his ex-wife, Kai Cole. In the interview, Whedon discusses his time working as showrunner of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and simultaneously refutes allegations presented by former actors, including “Angel” star Charisma Carpenter, and admits to numerous affairs both during his marriage and after.

At one point in the interview Whedon discusses “Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot’s claims that he threatened to destroy her career while making “Justice League.” Whedon claims that he believes a language barrier between the Israeli-born Gadot and himself was the issue. “English is not her first language and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech,” Whedon said. New York magazine reached out to Gadot who said she “understood perfectly” everything Whedon said to her. Related Sarah Michelle Gellar Recalls ‘Extremely Toxic Male Set’ in Early Career Patty Jenkins’ ‘Wonder Woman 3’ Draft Scrapped at WB, Gal Gadot’s Future in Role Unclear Related Oscars 2023: Best Sound Predictions 17 HBO and HBO Max Original Series to Get Excited About in 2023
Gal Gadot confirmed in May that reports claiming Joss Whedon threatened her career during the filming of “Justice League” reshoots were true. All the actress said at the time was the following: “He kind of threatened my career and said if I did something, he would make my career miserable and I just took care of it instead.” Now Gadot has opened up a bit more on the situation in a new interview with Elle magazine. While Gadot never revealed the specifics of Whedon’s alleged threat, The Hollywood Reporter published a story in April that revealed Whedon allegedly told the Wonder Woman actress that “he’s the writer and she’s going to shut up and say the lines.” Sources told THR that “the biggest clash” between Whedon and Gadot came when the director “pushed Gadot to record lines she didn’t like, threatened to harm Gadot’s career and disparaged ‘Wonder Woman’ director Patty Jenkins.” The Whedon interview also attempted to clarify issues actor Ray Fisher has brought up regarding what he called a diminished role in Whedon’s original take on the material, as well as other claims of a toxic work environment. Whedon chalked Fisher’s experiences up to “a malevolent force” with Fisher being a “bad actor in both senses.” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.