Director Joss Whedon has finally responded to the misconduct allegations made by Gal Gadot and Ray Fisher that allegedly occurred on the set of his 2017 superhero film Justice League. Joss, 57, told New York Magazine in an interview published Monday, January 17 that he never “threatened” Gal, 36, while they worked together, which is something the Wonder Woman actress claimed last year when she shared her own experience of working with Joss. “I don’t threaten people. Who does that?” Joss said.
The filmmaker added, “English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.” Joss then recalled how he and the Israeli actress argued over a scene involving her character on a railroad track, which, according to Joss, Gal misunderstood. “Then I was told that I had said something about her dead body and tying her to the railroad track,” he said. Gal responded to Joss’ side of the story in an email to New York Magazine. “I understood perfectly,” she simply said.
Joss also addressed the situation with Ray, 34, who starred in Justice League as Cyborg, and previously accused the director of being “gross,” “abusive,” and “unprofessional” on set. Joss said that none of Ray’s allegations were “either true or merited discussing.” He denied Ray’s claims that Cyborg’s skin was darkened in the film, and also explained that the character’s screen time was cut because his storyline “logically made no sense.” When asked about Ray’s motives for making these allegations, Joss said, “We’re talking about a malevolent force. We’re talking about a bad actor in both senses.”
Some of Joss’ defenders believe these allegations were part of a coordinated attack against the director. He addressed this with New York Magazine. “I don’t know who started it. I just know in whose name it was done,” he said, referencing Zac Snyder, whom Joss replaced as Justice League director. He then noted how fans of Snyder’s attacked him online and would reference the scathing 2017 open letter penned by his ex-wife Kai Cole, who accused Joss of infidelity and being a fake feminist. “I was made a target by my ex-wife, and people exploited that cynically,” he said. “She put out a letter saying some bad things I’d done and saying some untrue things about me, but I had done the bad things and so people knew I was gettable.”
Ray’s allegations against Joss were previously backed up by actress Charisma Carpenter, who made similar claims in Feb. 2021 about Joss’ alleged behavior on the set of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. “I was not mannerly,” he told New York Magazine, when discussing Charisma’s allegations. “Most of my experiences with Charisma were delightful and charming. She struggled sometimes with her lines, but nobody could hit a punch line harder than her.” When asked if he called Charisma “fat” while she was 4-months pregnant, Joss responded, “I did not call her fat. Of course I didn’t.”