Yahoo News Buffy star says there was a rule to stop Joss Whedon being alone with her
Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Michelle Trachtenberg has claimed that there was a rule on the set of the teen fantasy drama that prevented showrunner Joss Whedon from being alone with her.
The actor, who played the titular character's younger sister Dawn Summers on the show, took to Instagram recently to share a statement from lead Sarah Michelle Gellar after their co-star Charisma Carpenter accused Whedon of "hostile and toxic" behaviour during filming.
"Thank you @sarahmgellar for saying this," she wrote, acknowledging Gellar's post standing with "all survivors of abuse" and insisting she does not want to be associated with her former boss.
"I am brave enough now as a 35 year old woman.... To repost this. Because. This must. Be known," Trachtenberg continued. "As a teenager. With his not appropriate behavior.... very. Not. Appropriate. So now. People know. What Joss. Did.
"The last. Comment I will make on this. Was. There was a rule. Saying. He's not allowed in a room alone with Michelle again."
Digital Spy has reached out to Whedon's representatives for comment on the allegations.
Trachtenberg joined Buffy in its fifth season, when she was 14 years old. The character stuck around for the following two instalments before the show concluded in 2003.
Shortly after Carpenter – inspired by Ray Fisher's previous accounts of Whedon's alleged conduct while working on Justice League – spoke out, Tara actor Amber Benson tweeted: "Buffy was a toxic environment and it starts at the top. @AllCharisma is speaking truth and I support her 100%.
Related: Buffy's Sarah Michelle Gellar posts tribute for character's 40th birthday
"There was a lot of damage done during that time and many of us are still processing it twenty plus years later."
Anthony Head, who played Buffy's mentor Giles, has since explained that he had no idea of Whedon's reported actions at the time and feels "gutted" having been made aware of them now.
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