Sarah Michelle Gellar says ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ had ‘extremely toxic male set’

Nearly a year after multiple cast members accused “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator Joss Whedon of misconduct, Sarah Michelle Gellar opened up Wednesday about her experience working on the hit series. Gellar, who played the titular heroine in “Buffy,” briefly spoke out against series creator Joss Whedon last year but did not elaborate then on her decision to do so after multiple cast members had accused the series creator of misconduct. “And 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.” In February 2021, Gellar released a statement on Instagram saying she was “proud” to have her name attached to Buffy Summers, but did not want “to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon.” Though she declined to make “any further statements at this time,” Gellar added, “I stand with all survivors of abuse and am proud of them for speaking out.” Around the same time Gellar came forward, her “Buffy” co-star Charisma Carpenter claimed in a statement that Whedon “abused his power on multiple occasions,” had “a history of being casually cruel” and “created hostile and toxic work environments since his early career.” Carpenter — who portrayed Buffy’s high-school frenemy Cordelia Chase — also voiced her support for “Justice League” actor Ray Fisher after he accused Whedon of exhibiting “gross, abusive, unprofessional” behavior behind the scenes of the DC film. Trachtenberg — who was a teenager when she portrayed Buffy’s younger sister Dawn — claimed that after subjecting her to “very bad,” inappropriate behavior, Whedon was not allowed to be alone with her on set.