Several actresses, including “Wonder Woman” actress Gal Gadot, have claimed that director Joss Whedon was verbally abusive and fostered toxic work conditions on film and television sets.

Whedon addressed the scandal that has harmed his image as a feminist and progressive ally in a long feature published by New York magazine on Monday. The writer-director mostly disputed or dismissed Fisher, Gadot, and Carpenter’s charges, admitting that he has been in therapy for the last several years coping with complicated post-traumatic stress disorder from from a difficult upbringing.

Fisher, who portrayed Cyborg in the 2017 Warner Bros. DC Comics picture, previously called Whedon’s conduct on the set of long reshoots “gross” and “unprofessional,” and accused him of having his skin tone lightened. His remarks prompted WarnerMedia to launch an internal inquiry.

Whedon’s comments in Monday’s article are the first time he has addressed the many claims leveled against him. His detractors used “every weaponizable word of the modern era to make it seem like I was an abusive monster,” Whedon said, adding, “I think I’m one of the nicer showrunners that’s ever been.”

CLAY ENOS

In regards to Fisher, Whedon said that he did not believe the actor gave a decent performance. “We’re talking about a malevolent force,” Whedon stated. “We’re talking about a bad actor in both senses.”

Whedon further said that his interactions with Fisher were polite and courteous, and that none of Fisher’s charges were “either true or merited discussing.”

Fisher posted a Tweet on Monday, stating, “Looks like Joss Whedon got to direct an endgame after all… Rather than address all of the lies and buffoonery today—I will be celebrating the legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tomorrow the work continues.”

Whedon also addressed Gadot’s claim that he “kind of threatened my career and said if I did something, he would make my career miserable” in an interview with Israeli TV station N12 in May.

Whedon said: “I don’t threaten people. Who does that?”

Whedon remarked of Gadot’s perception of events, “English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.” He remembered joking with Gadot about a scene she wanted him to delete, saying she’d have to tie his corpse to a railway track to get him to do it. “Then I was told that I had said something about her dead body and tying her to the railroad track,” he stated.

Gadot disagreed with Whedon in an email to New York magazine, stating, “I understood perfectly.” A spokesman for Gadot did not reply to a request for comment right away.

Carpenter, who portrayed Cordelia Chase on both “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and its sequel, “Angel,” tweeted a message in support of Fisher in February 2021, reiterating Fisher’s assertions that Whedon made his cast and crew uncomfortable on site.

Carpenter said that Whedon “abused his power on numerous occasions” and that “while he found his misconduct amusing, it only served to intensify my performance anxiety, disempower me, and alienate” her from her co-stars. She further alleged that Whedon called her obese and questioned whether she was “going to keep it” when she got pregnant.

“The disturbing incidents triggered a chronic physical condition from which I still suffer,” she said.

Whedon confessed he was “not mannerly” but maintained he “did not call her fat” throughout her pregnancy, in response to Carpenter’s detailed allegations.

He retorted, “Most of my experiences with Charisma were delightful and charming.”