Almost 20 years after Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired its final episode, star Sarah Michelle Gellar is hinting that her experience on the show may not have been as bloody.
“For a long time, I was in a set that was known as a very toxic male set, and because of that, in my mind, all sets were similar,” she said at The Wrap’s Power Women Summit. Los Angeles.
While she didn’t specify which set made her feel that way, other allegations of a toxic work environment have surfaced over the past year about the “Buffy” set directed by creator Joss Whedon.
Gellar tried to separate them by talking about how she feels “women are pitted against each other.”
Sarah Michelle Gellar discussed the toxicity of the set early in her career.
(Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Allegations of misconduct by ‘BUFFI’ creator JOSS WHEDON SARAH Michelle Gellar, Michelle Trachtenberg.
“If women were friends, we became very strong, so you had to hold it,” she said.
On the show, Gellar was surrounded by several female actors, including Alyson Hannigan and Charisma Carpenter.
Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Boreanaz, Nicholas Brandon, Alison Hannigan, Carisma Carpenter, Anthony Stewart Head and Seth Green star in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1998.
(Getty Images)
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In February 2021, Carpenter said of Whedon: “Joss has a history of being casually cruel. He has created a hostile and toxic work environment since his early career. I know this because I have experienced it myself. Re- again”.
In response to Carpenter’s allegations, Gellar shared a statement on his Instagram “While I’m proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don’t want to be associated with Joss Whedon forever.”
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran from 1997 to 2003.
Sarah Michelle Gellar speaks at the fifth annual The Wraps Power Women Summit.
(Emma McIntyre)
At the summit, Gellar was quick to dismiss the narrative she once held — that all kits were toxic.
“Now that I’ve had the opportunity to work with many more women and men who support women, I realize how easy it is to experience, but … unfortunately, we still have those departments. where we’re at. A lot of times we have to be women to have a voice,” she said of the industry.
Representatives for Gellar and Whedon did not immediately return a request for comment.