Nathan Fillion has recently said on a podcast that he, “would work with [Joss Whedon] in a second” despite the allegations of abuse.
Nathan Fillion recently went on the Inside of You podcast where he shared some thoughts about Joss Whedon, who he primarily worked with on the sci-fi series Firefly. Fillion and Whedon were frequent collaborators— also working together on Much Ado About Nothing, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and several episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
During the podcast, Fillion said he would, “work with Joss again in a second.” The reason this statement raises eyebrows for those that are familiar with Whedon’s recent history is: that history is full of allegations of abuse against him across multiple decades and sets that he has worked on.
Many of these allegations were consolidated into an article that detailed the timeline of Joss Whedon’s alleged abuse. Fillion stated that he had read the article but didn’t think it applied to his time with him on the set of Firefly.
“I read that article, and nowhere in there at any point in time did he mention ‘Firefly.’ I had an entirely – that was not my experience with that man,” Fillion said on the podcast, where he described Whedon as “funny, self-deprecating, incredibly talented” and “maybe a little haunted.”
The issue with this statement is that:
- It disregards what happened on the sets of other series and the testimonies of others who alleged abuse against him.
- Nathan Fillion worked with Whedon on the set of Buffy, in which allegations from the stunt team and cast members were made against Whedon.
Fillion added, “I mean, listen by his own admission that guy’s a work in progress and I appreciate that…I would work with Joss again in a second. I would work with him again in a second.”
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While being a work in progress is something that literally everybody on this planet is, just saying as much doesn’t absolve you from prior wrongdoings. There has to be accountability to “progress” as a person, it doesn’t happen automatically.
This is especially true when all of Whedon’s statements in response to these allegations show no remorse or admission of wrongdoing. Currently, there is no path towards accountability for Whedon. Here are some of the statements he has made in response:
The writer-director denied insulting Gadot while making Justice League, saying, “I don’t threaten people. Who does that? English is not her first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.”
In response to costume designer Cynthia Bergstrom, who worked on Buffy and alleged he violently grabbed her arm in a dispute over a costume, Whedon said he does not “believe” Bergstrom’s story: “I know I would get angry, but I was never physical with people.”
In response to Ray Fisher’s allegations of misconduct and racism on the set of Justice League, Whedon said his claims were “neither true or merited discussing,” as well as saying that he’s “a bad actor in both senses.”
These statements are all publicly available for Fillion to see, along with many others, despite his involvement or lack thereof in these projects.
