Joss Whedon reportedly threatened Gal Gadot's career on Justice League, demanded she 'shut up and say the lines'
New details have emerged of alleged unprofessional behavior by director Joss Whedon.
The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday delved into actor Ray Fisher's allegations of abusive and racist conduct during the production of Justice League. The Cyborg actor has accused Whedon, in particular, of treating the film's cast and crew in a "gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable" fashion while directing the movie's reshoots.
Whedon "clashed with all the stars of the film," including Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot, the Reporter writes. Gadot reportedly raised concerns about her character being "more aggressive" in Whedon's new version of Justice League. At one point, while pushing her to record lines she didn't like, Whedon "threatened to harm Gadot's career and disparaged Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins," the Reporter says.
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"Joss was bragging that he's had it out with Gal," a source told the Reporter. "He told her he's the writer and she's going to shut up and say the lines and he can make her look incredibly stupid in this movie."
Gadot and Jenkins reportedly "went to battle" and even met with Kevin Tsujihara, then the chair of Warner Bros. Entertainment. While Fisher didn't comment on the reported incident with Gadot, he described how Whedon allegedly dismissed his feedback by declaring that he doesn't "like taking notes from anybody — not even Robert Downey Jr."
And in general, Fisher describes how he allegedly attempted to explain during Whedon's Justice League reshoots "some of the most basic points of what would be offensive to the Black community," but he says this "advice from the only Black person — as far as I know — with any kind of creative impact on the project" was not heeded. He also alleges executives had discussions about how they couldn't have "an angry Black man" at the center of the movie, with one reportedly complaining that his character didn't smile enough. Read more at The Hollywood Reporter.
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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