Sarah Michelle Gellar returns to supernatural TV soon with “Wolf Pack,” premiering later this month on Paramount+. But don’t expect the actress to discuss her time on “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” in the lead-up to her new show’s premiere. IndieWire (via The Hollywood Reporter) reports the actress refuses to tarnish the “Buffy” legacy with further talk about Joss Whedon‘s toxic workplace behavior. For Gellar, it’s a lose-lose situation and a subject not worth broaching.
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“I’ve come to a good place with it, where it’s easier to talk about,” Gellar told THR in a new interview about Whedon’s behavior on the “Buffy” set. “I’ll never tell my full story because I don’t get anything out of it. I’ve said all I’m going to say because nobody wins. Everybody loses.” Instead of citing more examples of Whedon’s behavior, Gellar instead wants the show’s legacy to rest with the other people who worked on it. “I’m not the only person facing this, and I hope the legacy hasn’t changed,” Gellar continued. “I hope that it gives the success back to the people that put in all of the work. I will always be proud of ‘Buffy.’ I will always be proud of what my castmates did, what I did. Was it an ideal working situation? Absolutely not. But it’s OK to love “Buffy” for what we created because I think it’s pretty spectacular.”
Gellar previously spoke out about the allegations against Whedon over Instagram in 2021, writing, “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…I stand with all survivors of abuse and am proud of them for speaking out.” Gellar’s current word echo the same sentiment. “It’s not about finding my voice,” the actress told THR. “It’s about learning how to use it, and using it in the right way.”
Freddie Prinze Jr., Gellar’s husband, also told THR that the actress rewatches only Seasons 1 through 5 of “Buffy” due to issues between her and Whedon in the show’s later seasons. According to Prinze, Gellar “had to deal with a lot of bullshit on that show for all seven years it was on” and had a reputation for being difficult on set since she stood up for the cast and crew. “The stuff they pressed upon her, without any credit or real salary, while she was often the only one doing 15-hour days … yet she was still able to get the message of that character out every single week and do it with pride and do it professionally,” Prinze continued.  
“Buffy” stars Seth Green and Emma Caufield offered examples of how Gellar stuck up for the cast and crew against Whedon on the show’s set. “That show was just hard,” Green told THR. “We were working crazy hours, and a lot of things that got pushed weren’t necessarily safe or under the best conditions. Sarah was always the first one to say, ‘We agreed this was a 13-hour day and it’s hour 15 — we’ve got to wrap,’ or, ‘Hey, this shot doesn’t seem safe,’ when nobody else would stick up for the cast and crew. I saw her get called a bitch, a diva, all these things that she’s not — just because she was taking the mantle of saying and doing the right thing.”  
Caufield echoed Green’s take. “It was obvious that Sarah lacked the support to be the leader she needed and wanted to be,” she said. “There was a tremendous amount of resentment and animosity from a certain someone — and I suppose now we can all guess who.”  
But Gellar doesn’t expect that same abuse climate on the set of “Wolf Pack” or other future projects, and she’s proud of how she handled Whedon’s behavior on the “Buffy” set. “I hope that I’ve set up an infrastructure, a safety net for these actors that I didn’t have. My generation just didn’t have that.” “Wolf Pack” premieres on January 25 on Paramount+.