After months of silence, "Justice League" director Joss Whedon addresses the accusations of the main actors, Gal Gadot and Ray Fisher, about his problematic conduct on the set.
In a controversial interview he gave to New York Magazine, the creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" responded to the remarks and fired back.
"I think I'm one of the nicest directors to ever act," said the 57-year-old filmmaker, who claimed in an interview that people used "every derogatory word in the modern age to make it look like I'm an abusive monster."
Widon referred to what Gal Gadot said about him, who said that when she was photographed for the "Justice League," the director angrily threatened her that he would ruin her career.
"I do not threaten people. Who does such things?", He said in an interview, insisting that the actress simply did not understand him - due to a language barrier.
"English is not her mother tongue," he said, adding, "My speech has an annoying tendency to be colorful."
New trailer for the movie "Justice League" // Courtesy of Globus Group, Archive
Despite this, in an email she recently sent to New York Magazine, the Israeli star wrote that she "understood exactly" what he was saying.
Alongside this, a source from the "Justice League" set of photographs claims that Widon did indeed threaten to sword the game's career.
"He told her he was the screenwriter and that she was going to shut up and say her lines and he could make her look unbelievably stupid in the film," the source said.
In the article, Widon responded to the remarks of black actor Ray Fischer, who accused the director of misconduct, "disgusting and unprofessional" behavior and racism.
This is reflected, according to Fisher, in cutting scenes from the film that would have challenged stereotypical perceptions about blacks and even in bleaching the star's skin.
These accusations were also made by the director, who explained that he clarified the entire film in the post-production process, including the actors' faces - in order to give them a brighter look.
Widon further explained that he decided to reduce the scenes in which Cyborg, Fischer's character in the film, appears because "there was no logic in it" and that the 34-year-old star is to his taste simply a bad actor.
He claims he is not the only one who thought so and from test screenings made for the film it was found that even the audience found Cyborg "the worst character in the film".
Widon said he finds the allegations against him ridiculous and that he "spent many hours talking to Fisher about the changes" and their conversation was "friendly and respectful."
He further said that none of the allegations "was true or warranted a hearing", and defined the attacks against him as "an evil force" and "a bad player in both senses of the word".
The online reactions to the director's remarks were not long in coming.
"The fact that other adults on the Buffy's set decided that Joss Whedon was not allowed to be alone in the room with Michelle Trachtenberg, who was 16 at the time, is problematic. Joss Whedon should not have gotten jobs afterwards," one of them read.
"Joss Whedon verbally assaulted a black actor on Martin Luther King Day," another tweet read.
Among the reactions were also those who accused the director of insensitivity and arrogance stemming from privileges.
"Joss Whedon's father would write in 'The Golden Girls' and 'Alice,'" another commenter wrote.
"His grandfather wrote on Andy Griffith's show and Donna Reid's show. Joss himself started writing in the 'Roseanne' series in his mid - twenties. Imagine his long struggle to break into the industry as an outsider."
Ray Fisher himself responded to the remarks and wrote tonight: "It seems that Joss Whedon got to direct 'The Avengers: The End of the Game' after all," the actor wrote on his Twitter account.
"Instead of addressing all the lies and stupidity today, I will celebrate the legacy of Pastor Martin Luther King Jr. tomorrow. The work continues."
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