Joss Whedon breaks silence on Justice League controversy, denies threatening Gal Gadot's career

Filmmaker Joss Whedon has finally broken his silence over accusations of misconduct on the set of Justice League. In July 2020, Whedon was accused by actor Ray Fisher of “ gross, unprofessional and abusive conduct” during the production of the 2017 Warner Bros movie. Allegations against the director were also levied by Wonder Woman actor Gal Gadot and Whedon’s former Buffy The Vampire colleagues. In a recent interview with New York Magazine, Whedon shared his experience on taking over the directorial duties after filmmaker Zack Snyder left the set due to a sudden death in the family.  In the interview, titled as The Undoing of Joss Whedon,  the director also claimed that the decision to take over the project was one of his biggest regrets. When he was initially picked, Whedon’s role was strictly limited to writing and advising, but he soon began making some major changes to the film, as per reports. Fisher, who played Cyborg in the film, had made a hard-hitting claim on social media that resulted in WarnerMedia conducting an internal investigation. Fisher had also accused Whedon of abusing his power and claimed that the director had even digitally asked to change the skin tone of an actor of colour. Talking about Fisher’s claims, Whedon stated that he was brightening the entire movie in post-production and that included the faces of all actors. He also asserted that Cyborg’s role was cut down because it logically made no sense and he felt that Fisher’s acting was bad. The filmmaker also mentioned that Cyborg was one of the worst of all the characters in the film. Hours after this interview went viral, Fisher was quick to respond to the New York Magazine piece on social media.

On Gadot’s allegations, Fisher had earlier claimed that Whedon “threatened and disparaged” the Wonder Woman actor’s career. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter last April, Gadot stated that she had issues with Whedon and Warner Bros during the film. In his recent interview, Whedon denied her claims and argued that he did not threaten her career. The director blamed everything on a misunderstanding due to language barriers.