Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum Anthony Stewart Head has spoken out about the on-set abuse claims against series creator Joss Whedon, saying that he is “seriously gutted” over it. In an interview with UK news outlet Metro, Head addressed the claims brought forth by his former co-star Charisma Carpenter. “You can probably see that I’ve been up most of the night,” he said, referring to his appearance, which he felt indicated his restlessness. “Just running through my memories, thinking, ‘What did I miss?'”
Head, who played the Watcher Giles throughout all seven seasons of Buffy, went on to clarify, “This is not a man saying, ‘I didn’t see it so it didn’t happen.’ It’s just…I can’t…I am gutted. I’m seriously gutted.” He added, “One of my memories — my fondest memory, in fact — was that he was so empowering, not just in the words of the script but in the family feel of the show.” The actor, who is somewhat older than the rest of his fellow Buffy stars, expressed regret that the younger stars didn’t seem to feel comfortable coming to him with their issues and concerns. “I was sort of like a father figure… I would hope that someone would come to me and say, ‘I’m struggling, I just had a horrible conversation.'”
Finally, Head said, “Admittedly, the first post by Charisma was when she was working on Angel, and I was long gone,” essentially noting that he never appeared on the spinoff series, which Carpenter did star in. “But there are other posts subsequently that are making me think, ‘How on earth did I not know this was going on?'” Notably, Head is not the only former star to speak out, as Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Eliza Dushku all issued statements as well, showing support for Carpenters claims that Whedon created a toxic working environment on the set of Buffy.
“He has created hostile and toxic work environments since his early career. I know because I experienced it first-hand. Repeatedly,” Carpenter wrote in her statement. “Like his ongoing, passive-aggressive threats to fire me, which wreaks havoc on a young actor’s self-esteem. And callously calling me ‘fat’ to colleagues when I was 4 months pregnant, weighing 126 lbs.” She also added, “He was mean and biting, disparaging about others openly, and often played favorites, pitting people against one another to compete and vie for his attention and approval.” Whedon has not yet responded to the allegations.
