Disgraced filmmaker Joss Whedon has finally broken his silence on the allegations against him, claiming he was guilty of abusive behavior and misconduct on the set of the infamous Justice League reshoots. As well as denying Ray Fisher’s accusations, Whedon has also hit back at Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot’s claim that the Avengers director threatened her career.
Gadot has previously outlined that Whedon had “threatened” to make her “career miserable” after they disagreed on his new material for the DC movie. As part of an in-depth profile with Vulture, Whedon denies threatening Gadot, blaming the “misunderstanding” on the fact that English isn’t her first language.
“I don’t threaten people. Who does that?” he said. “English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.”
To back up his point, Whedon recalled that, during an argument over a scene Gadot wanted cut, he “jokingly” told her she would have to tie him to a railroad track and remove the scene over his dead body. “Then I was told that I had said something about her dead body and tying her to the railroad track,” he added.
New York Magazine reached out to Gadot for comment on Whedon’s version of events, with the Red Notice actress refuting his claims, saying “I understood perfectly.”
Whedon’s claims that he doesn’t threaten people also clashed with the testimony of an unnamed Angel actress who NY Mag spoke with. After her agent pushed for her to get a raise, this actress alleges Whedon called her at home and said she was “never going to work for him, or 20th Century Fox again.”
Upon first hearing of Gadot’s own experience with Whedon, the Angel actress noted that she thought, “Wow, he’s still using that line.” When told about this further allegation, Whedon denied it as well.
If Whedon had been hoping to clear the air by sharing his side of the story, it doesn’t seem to have had the intended effect. The internet has rallied behind the Justice League cast in the face of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator’s new comments. While Joss Whedon’s reputation appears in tatters, Gal Gadot’s career is stronger than ever.
