Amber Benson (Tara) and Alyson Hannigan (Willow) share a kiss. (Screen capture via YouTube)
When wallflower-turned-witch Willow Rosenburg met shy, bookish Tara Maclay, it was the start of one of the show’s most loving relationships.
The pair’s first kiss in season five’s “The Body” was not only a moment for the silver screen history books – the first lesbian couple to share a televised kiss – but gave countless queer youth hope.
Witchcraft in the show came to act as a vehicle for the characters’ sexuality – a clever workaround for perceived viewer hesitations about on-screen queerness. Willow, over time, learning that her magical abilities – and her sexuality, too – were perfectly natural.
Angel sets as if they were “high school”, ex-employees of the embattled show creator claimed.
Since series star Charisma Carpenter came forward with various explosive allegations against Whedon, such as him “abusing his power” on set, various castmembers and off-camera staff have spoken out.
Speaking to
Variety, 11 former staffers who worked on both the beloved WB show and its spin-off in the late 1990s and early 2000s claim Whedon had a track record of misconduct.
The publication said that many of the insiders described the “set as operating like high school”, with the writer-director deciding “who was in and who was out”. He could be “sharp-tongued”, one source said, and was “both feared and idolised”.
Was Joss Whedon The Real Big Bad Of ‘Buffy’?
Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer proves that Joss Whedon s misogyny was only shallowly buried beneath the feminist surface.
We missed you too. Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter, so you always know where to find us.
More than once in my life faced with something hard, lonely or unfathomable I’ve asked myself, ‘What would Buffy do?’
Even in vulnerable moments, the teen vampire slayer could whip up a one-liner and a plan of action. In the season three episode ‘Helpless’, Buffy’s mentor strips her superpowers away to make her face a coming-of-age ordeal: to best a relentless vampire foe without her super strength, perception or agility. Buffy is reduced to
Buffy: Nicholas Brendon loves Charisma Carpenter and Joss Whedon pinknews.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pinknews.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
“While I personally had a good and professional experience, it is heartbreaking to hear not everyone did.
“I do not condone any actions that made anyone feel hurt or uncomfortable, and I offer love and support to everyone who is speaking out to tell their truths.”
Buffy cast throw weight towards Charisma Carpenter amid Joss Whedon allegations
Charisma Carpenter, who played whipsmart but air-headed debutante Cordelia Chase, issued a statement in support of Justice League star Ray Fisher, who last year accused Whedon of “gross” and “abusive” treatment of the cast.
In her own explosive statement, Carpenter claimed Joss Whedon would frequently undermine her with “mean and biting” behaviour, stoking her performance anxiety while disempowering and “alienating” her from her peers.