Sarah Michelle Gellar Says 'I Can Fight for the Future' After Joss Whedon Addresses Misconduct Claims

Dory Jackson
·2 min read

Sarah Michelle Gellar shared a message on Instagram after Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon recently broke his silence on allegations about his on-set misconduct.

On Instagram Wednesday, Gellar posted a selfie alongside a caption that read: "I can't take back the past, but I can fight for the future."

The actress' post happened to fall on the same days as Buffy Summers' birthday. Gellar played the fictional teenaged "Chosen One" on seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer from 1997 to 2003.

During Gellar's time on Buffy, she worked alongside Whedon, who was a creator and executive producer for the series.

RELATED: Ben Affleck Says Making Joss Whedon's Justice League Was 'the Worst Experience': 'It Was Awful'

Buffy alums Charisma Carpenter, Michelle Trachtenberg and Amber Benson have since accused Whedon, 57, of abusive behavior on set. At the time, Gellar said she doesn't "want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon" despite her love for the show.

"I stand with all survivors of abuse and am proud of them for speaking out," she wrote on Instagram.

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Joss Whedon
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Joss Whedon

Neilson Barnard/Getty; Jason Merritt/Getty

Addressing the allegations for the first time in a newly-released profile for New York Magazine's Vulture, Whedon admitted to not being "civilized" at that point in his life.

"I was young," he said. "I yelled, and sometimes you had to yell. This was a very young cast, and it was easy for everything to turn into a cocktail party."

"If I am upsetting somebody, it will be a problem for me," he added.

Whedon even addressed the accusations he was having extramarital affairs with people in the show's cast during his marriage to now ex-wife Kai Cole. "I feel f---ing terrible about them," he said, adding that it "messes up the power dynamic" but he "had" to have sexual relations with them because he was too "powerless."

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Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Joss Whedon

Whedon has also faced misconduct allegations from Gal Gadot and Ray Fisher, both of whom worked with him on Justice League. While Gadot claimed Whedon "threatened" her career, Fisher alleged that there were "massive blowups, threats, coercion, taunting, unsafe work conditions, belittling and gaslighting" as well as "issues" regarding race that occurred on Whedon's end.

"I don't threaten people. Who does that?" Whedon said to Vulture, denying Gadot's allegation. "English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech."

As for Fisher's claims, Whedon told the publication that none of what the actor said was "either true or merited discussing."

"We're talking about a malevolent force," Whedon added. "We're talking about a bad actor in both senses."

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