Anthony Stewart Head, who played Buffy's mentor Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, had an emotional response to the news of his co-stars speaking out on abuse and inappropriate behavior that they allegedly endured at the hands of the show's creator, Joss Whedon.
In a video interview with UK news outlet Metro, Head said that he had never known about Whedon's misbehavior while Buffy was shooting, but that he believed the statements issued by other cast members. "You can probably see that I've been up most of the night," he said, indicating his sleepless face. "Just running through my memories, thinking, 'What did I miss?'"
Head hastened to clarify that he wasn't in denial. "This is not a man saying, 'I didn't see it so it didn't happen.' It's just...I can't...I am gutted. I'm seriously gutted."
Whedon has recently faced many accusations of misconduct and abuse during film and television productions, beginning with claims from Justice League star Ray Fisher which led to an investigation from WarnerMedia. This was followed by Charisma Carpenter's public statement which alleged that Whedon's inappropriate behavior had begun much earlier in his career, citing her experience working under him on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Carpenter has since been backed up by fellow Buffy alums Amber Benson, Emma Caulfield, Michelle Trachtenberg and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Head had a regular or recurring role on all seven seasons of the show, as the Watcher Giles who was assigned to guide Buffy through her vampire slaying duties and became a parental figure to her as well. His own experience with the show was apparently positive, and he described Whedon's leadership saying, "One of my memories -- my fondest memory, in fact -- was that he was so empowering, not just in the words of the script but in the family feel of the show."
He also expressed regret that his cast members, who were mostly younger than him, hadn't sought out his help during their ordeals. "I was sort of like a father figure... I would hope that someone would come to me and say, 'I'm struggling, I just had a horrible conversation.'"
"Admittedly, the first post by Charisma [Carpenter] was when she was working on Angel, and I was long gone," he noted, as he had never appeared on the spinoff series. "But there are other posts subsequently that are making me think, 'How on earth did I not know this was going on?'"
Source: Metro