Entertainment
Justice League star Harry Lennix ‘hopes everyone can move on’ after Joss Whedon allegations
Justice League star Harry Lennix has said he ‘hopes everyone can move on’ after director Joss Whedon has faced a string of allegations of abuse.
The actor, who plays Martian Manhunter in the movie, worked with Whedon on the series Dollhouse, as well as starring in the DC movie, which the director replaced Zack Snyder on.
Justice League star Ray Fisher and various Buffy the Vampire Slayer stars have spoken out against Whedon, accusing him of abusing his power and cultivating a toxic workplace. Whedon has not commented on the allegations.
Lennix said he didn’t have the same treatment, and that his experience with Whedon was ‘utterly professional’ but his ‘heart goes out to anybody that had to endure that kind of treatment.
‘We [actors] get treated as a second-class citizens frequently. But I did not see it, and I would be curious as to what [Whedon’s] response to this has been.’
He added to Variety: ‘I just hope everybody can move on with their lives, to be honest with you. As a former seminarian, and as somebody who has made mistakes, I’ve been on either side of that equation.’
Lennix went on to say: ‘I know that Ray has it in himself to be better because of this, to be stronger, to have survived it. And I also hope that Joss can, too, that he can survive it, be the writer and creator that that he is and we can all be better because of it.’
He went on to say that he would like to know what Whedon’s response to the allegations is, before adding that he doesn’t want to ‘minimise’ anyone’s experience, but believes ‘that we must learn to reconcile. And we must learn to move on.’
Fisher, who played Cyborg in Justice League, first spoke out against Whedon last July, and Jason Momoa, who played Aquaman, later supported him.
This month, Buffy’s Charisma Carpenter, who played Cordelia Chase, who accused Whedon of creating a ‘hostile and toxic environment’ and described him as ‘casually cruel’.
Several Buffy actors have since spoken out about the claims, including Eliza Dushku, Amber Benson, James Marsters and the show’s lead, Sarah Michelle Gellar, who said: ‘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’, adding that she stands ‘with all survivors of abuse.’
Whedon is best known for being the showrunner on series including Buffy and Firefly, as well as directing reshoots for Justice League, and helming the first two Avengers movies.
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