Gal Gadot is opening up about her experiences working with disgraced filmmaker Joss Whedon – and she’s making it known it wasn’t a “wonder”-ful time.
In May, the “Wonder Woman” star responded to a report from The Hollywood Reporter that alleged the “Justice League” director verbally abused her after she voiced concerns about her character and the film’s dialogue. She confirmed to an Israeli media outlet that Whedon “kind of threatened my career and said if I did something, he would make my career miserable.”
Reflecting on those comments, the 36-year-old beauty shared how she didn’t take the bullying in stride.
“Oh, I was shaking trees as soon as it happened,” Gadot told ELLE magazine. “And I must say that the heads of Warner Brothers, they took care of it.”
“You’re dizzy because you can’t believe this was just said to you,” she added. “And if he says it to me, then obviously he says it to many other people. I just did what I felt like I had to do. And it was to tell people that it’s not okay.”
“I would’ve done the same thing, I think, if I was a man. Would he tell me what he told me had I been a man? I don’t know. We’ll never know,” she continued. “But my sense of justice is very strong. I was shocked by the way that he spoke to me. But whatever, it’s done. Water under the bridge.”
Gadot’s “Justice League” co-star Ray Fisher was the first to go public about allegations of Whedon’s verbal abuse and how producers and WarnerMedia executives were complicit in the toxic workplace environment. In July 2020, the Camden, N.J.-reared native accused the Academy Award-nominated Emmy winner of “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable” behavior.
Whedon took over the movie after original director Zack Snyder left due to the death of his daughter.
“Justice League” co-star Jason Momoa openly supported Fisher amid “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” stars Charisma Carpenter, Amber Benson and Michelle Trachtenberg coming forward with their own allegations of misconduct.
“Joss Whedon abused his power on numerous occasions while working together on the sets of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Angel,'” Carpenter wrote on social media in February. “The disturbing incidents triggered a chronic physical condition from which I still suffer. It is with a beating, heavy heart that I say I coped in isolation and, at times, destructively.”
Whedon has yet to respond to the accusations or the controversy. In November, he exited the upcoming HBO series “The Nevers,” citing the challenges of filming a big-budget science-fiction series during a global pandemic.
In an official statement, the network confirmed his departure with the statement: “We have parted ways with Joss Whedon.”
Although WarnerMedia announced in December that the investigation concluded and “remedial action was being taken,” CEO Ann Sarnoff dismissed Fisher’s allegations that Warner Bros. executives Geoff Johns and Jon Berg “enabled” Whedon’s behavior and that another, Walter Hamada, attempted to interfere with the investigation.
Gadot will next be seen starring alongside Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds in the action comedy “Red Notice,” coming to Netflix Nov. 12.
