Nearly 20 years after “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” aired its final episode, star Sarah Michelle Gellar is alluding to the fact her experience on the show might not have been so bloody perfect.
“For so long, I was on a set that I think 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 said at The Wrap’s Power Women Summit in Los Angeles.
While she did not specify which set made her feel this way, within the past year other accusations of a toxic work environment have come out about the “Buffy” set run by creator Joss Whedon.
Gellar talked about how she felt “women were pitted against each other,” in an effort to keep them apart.
Sarah Michelle Gellar discussed the toxicity of a set she was on early in her career.
(Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
“If women became friends, then we became too powerful, so you had to keep that down,” she said.
On the show, Gellar was surrounded by several female castmates, including Alyson Hannigan and Charisma Carpenter.
Sara Michelle Gellar, David Boreanaz, Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Charisma Carpenter, Anthony Stewart Head and Seth Green star In “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” 1998.
(Getty Images)
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In February 2021, Carpenter said of Whedon, “Joss has a history of being casually cruel. He has created hostile and toxic work environments since his early career. I know because I experienced it first-hand. Repeatedly.”
In response to Carpenter’s allegations, Gellar shared a statement on her Instagram that read in part, “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.”
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” ran from 1997 to 2003.
Sarah Michelle Gellar spoke at the fifth annual The Wraps Power Women Summit.
(Emma McIntyre)
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At the summit, Gellar was quick to debunk the narrative she had once thought – that all sets were toxic.
“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,” she noted of the industry.
Representatives for Gellar and Whedon did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
