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Joss Whedon was inevitably one of the most commendable talents in the entire entertainment industry before the series of allegations came crashing down on him in recent years. While accusations from his own ex-wife were one thing, this controversy didn’t stop there as the screenwriter cum director was met with severe claims of mistreatment from the people he worked with as well.
If that wasn’t enough, there were some of his own comments that later left him wishing he had been silent instead. For one, while giving a speech after receiving an award for his tremendous feminism, Whedon once even went as far as calling his mother“sexy.”Of course, this didn’t sit well with anyone, but unfortunately for him, it wasn’t the only mistake people seemed to catch.
Joss Whedon Once Called His Own Mother “Sexy”
Back in 2006,Joss Whedonwas presented with a rather exceptional honor for writing all the stories he did about strong, independent women. Equality Now, an organization co-owned by one of Whedon’s mother’s students dedicated to promoting women’s rights, celebrated the filmmaker with an award at an evening dedicated to honoring“men on the front lines”of feminism.
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But while the honor was commendable, what went wrong was the words he chose during his acceptance speech. WhileThe Avengersdirectordidpraise his mother Lee Stearns“extraordinary, inspirational, tough, cool,”he also, somewhy, went ahead to add“sexy”to this list of compliments. Years later, the screenwriter would look back and confess in an interview withVulture:
[My mother] was a remarkable woman and an inspiring person, but sometimes those are hard people to be raised by.
If Whedon had called his late mother“sexy”during the time when his fans pretty much worshipped him or during any other event, things may not have been taken that seriously and his comment could have even been slapped away like a compliment. But since this resurfaced right whenhe was nearly drowning in controversydue to all the allegations against him and at the most inappropriate event for this comment, Whedon wasn’t let go of easily.
And yet, the worst part was that this was hardly the end of the fuel that ignited the fire of his controversy.
Joss Whedon Has Been Accused of Misconduct by Multiple People
While Whedon’s ex-wife Kai Cole condemning him as a“hypocrite preaching feminist ideals”whilealleging him ofcheating on her throughout their marriage in an open letter on the blog The Wrap was one thing, the director further faced fire as Charisma Carpenter, one of the actresses onBuffy the Vampire Slayer, accused him of having a“history of being casually cruel.”
Adding to this was theFireflywriter who confessed to having witnessed him leading a meeting that was“basically 90 minutes of vicious mockery”of a female colleague for writing a script that wasn’t up to par. Then there was the costume designer who alleged he“grabbed my arm and dug in his fingers until his fingernails imprinted the skin”when the designs didn’t fit his standards.
There were further allegations about Whedon allegedly making out with an actress on the floor of someone else’s office. However, the bestresponse that the filmmaker hadwhile being confronted about these was that he was not as“civilized”back then and that he would never intentionally humiliate anyone. As for the rest of the allegations, Whedon simply denied most of them.
But, of course, that was barely the end of it all. Adding to his controversy, Whedon confessed that he identified more closely with Richard III than with any other character in Shakespeare’s canon – the very character who was a conniving, sadistic, yet charismatic aristocrat who sought the crown and tricked women into bed while murdering anyone and everyone who got in his way.
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Unfortunately for him, the list of Vulture coveringthe allegations against Joss Whedonand his honest reaction to them went a lot longer than this. And to make this series of unfortunate events even worse for him, Whedon’s calling his mother“sexy”while trying to deliver a speech of commendation for her at an event that honored men standing at the forefront of feminism was hardly the worst part of it all.
Mahin Sultan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2478
Mahin Sultan is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, where she brings a fresh perspective to entertainment news. Having been in the field for over 3 years now, she has already written more than 2,000 articles across a variety of niches, from entertainment to health and fashion. This diverse experience has allowed her to quickly build a solid foundation and a deep understanding of the industry.
