Sarah Michelle Gellar Says Set of ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Was ‘Extremely Toxic’

Sarah Michelle Gellar, known for her leading role as Buffy in Buffy the Vampire, is speaking out about toxicity on the set of the series.

“For so long, I was on a set that I think was known for being an extremely toxic male set,” she told the Power of Storytelling: Producers Roundtable in Los Angeles. “So that was ingrained in my head that that was what all sets were like, and that women were pitted against each other — that if women became friends, then we became too powerful, so you had to keep that down.”

“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,” she added. “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.”

While she didn’t mention what set she was referring to, last year, her costar Charisma Carpenter, who played Buffy’s frenemy Cordelia in the series, shared on Twitter that Joss Whedon, the creator of the show “abused his power” during the series and would call her “fat” to colleagues when she was four months pregnant and weighed 126 lbs.

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Following Carpenter’s allegations, Gellar made a statement on Instagram where she said, “While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don’t want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon.”

Days after, Michelle Trachtenberg also recounted her negative experience with Whedon saying he subjected her to inappropriate behavior after which he was not allowed to be alone with her on set.

Earlier this year, Whedon responded to these allegations. “Should I have been nicer?” he told Vulture. “I think I’m one of the nicer showrunners that’s ever been.”