Sarah Michelle Gellar Breaks Silence on 'Toxic' 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' Experience

The actress addressed rumors of Joss Whedon's hostile 'Buffy' set for the first time on Wednesday.

Sarah Michelle Gellar is opening up for the first time about her Buffy the Vampire Slayer experience with creator-director Joss Whedon, who has been accused in the past of keeping a hostile work environment on set. 

The 45-year-old actress—who starred as the titular character on the hit sci-fi series—appeared at The Wrap's Power of Women Summit in Los Angeles on Wednesday, where she called the set of the 1990s series "extremely toxic."

"For so long, I was on a set that I think head that that was  was known for being an extremely toxic male set, and so that was ingrained in my head that that was what all sets were like," she explained at the event's Power of Storytelling: Producers Roundtable segment on Wednesday. "That women were pitted against each other—that if women became friends, then we became too powerful, so you had to keep that down." 

While she didn't name Whedon specifically, the audience likely knew exactly what set Gellar was referring to, as her co-star Charisma Carpenter already accused the director of "hostile and toxic behavior" on set over a year ago.

At the time, Carpenter revealed via social media that Whedon allegedly "abused his power on numerous occasions," including threats to fire her and an instance where he called her "fat" in front of other colleagues when she was four months pregnant.

"He asked me if I was 'going to keep [the baby]' and manipulatively weaponized my womanhood and faith against me," Carpenter also alleged. "He proceeded to attack my character, mock my religious beliefs, accuse me of sabotaging the show, and then unceremoniously fired me the following season once I gave birth."

She continued, "He was mean and biting, disparaging about others openly, and often played favorites, putting people against one another to compete and vie for his attention and approval." 

At the time of Carpenter's public statement, Gellar spoke out in solidarity with her former co-star, but did not disclose any of her personal negative experiences she had on set at the time.

"I am more focused on raising my family and surviving a pandemic currently, so I will not be making any further statements at this time," she wrote via Instagram, adding, "But I stand with all survivors of abuse and am proud of them for speaking out."

View the original article to see embedded media.

At Wednesday's event, Gellar went on to explain how she has been able to work in healthier environments, especially with other women.

She explained, "Now that I've had this opportunity to work with so many more women and men that support women as well, I realized how easy an experience it can be, but unfortunately we're still in that place where all of those departments a lot of times need to be women for us to have a voice."