Actor David Boreanaz followed his Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel co-stars by offering support to Charisma Carpenter in the wake of her recent abuse claims against Joss Whedon."I am here for you to listen and support you," Boreanaz replied to Carpenter's original post about the abuse she received from director Joss Whedon. "Proud of your strength," he added.[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/David_Boreanaz/status/1361004209043173378[/EMBED_TWITTER]Carpenter later thanked Boreanaz for his support, indicating that the two had spoken privately about the issue. "I know you're there for me, David," Carpenter said. "I appreciate all you've done to demonstrate that support privately as well. Especially since Wednesday. Thank you so much."
Boreanaz starred in the leading role of Angel in Buffy before leaving the show as a regular in its fourth season to star in his spinoff series. Carpenter reprised her Buffy role of Cordelia Chase for four total seasons of the detective-themed spinoff, with a one-episode cameo in Season 5 to deal with her sudden departure from the series.
On Feb. 10, Carpenter posted her first-hand experience of her "traumatizing" time with Whedon on Buffy and Angel. Her post focused on the alleged "abuse of power" that Whedon wielded on set. Carpenter claimed that Whedon called her "fat" while she was pregnant on Angel and "pitted people against one another to compete and vie for his attention and approval." She also stated that he ignored her request to reduce work hours while pregnant and fired her after she gave birth, saying she "sabotaged" the show by becoming pregnant.
Shortly after Carpenter's post, several co-stars joined in saying that they too saw the "toxicity" on the Buffy set, including actor Amber Benson. In the days following, actor Michelle Trachtenberg cited a disturbing set rule that stated, "[Whedon's] not allowed in a room alone with Michelle again." She shared the rule on her Instagram, saying what he did was "bad." Trachtenberg portrayed Buffy Summer's (Sarah Michelle Gellar) younger sister, and like her role, was roughly 15 years old while on the set of Buffy.
Buffy's lead actor, Sarah Michelle Gellar, voiced her support on Instagram as well, noting, "While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don't want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon."
Boreanaz's reply marked the most recent of Carpenter's male co-stars to come out in public support. James Marsters, known as Spike to Buffy and Angel fans, and Anthony Stewart Head, known as Rupert Giles, also lent their public support to Carpenter recently. Amid Whedon allegations, Head said, "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." He added that he felt like a "father figure" and wondered how he missed such behavior.
At the time of this writing, Whedon has yet to reply to Carpenter's claims.
Source: Twitter