Joss Whedon’s ex-wife Kai Cole accuses the director of serially cheating during their 16-year marriage and calling him a “hypocrite preaching feminist ideals.”
Joss Whedon made his name directing cult television shows such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and big-budget action movies, which often featured women in empowering roles. Many applauded him for being a champion of women, a feminist in an industry accused of misogyny and sexism.
That image was challenged by his ex-wife Kai Cole, who wrote an essay in a Hollywood industry blog called the Wrap Sunday accusing him of serially cheating during their 16-year marriage and calling him a “hypocrite preaching feminist ideals.”
“I want to let women know that he is not who he pretends to be, ” Cole wrote. “I want the people who worship him to know he is human, and the organizations giving him awards for his feminist work, to think twice in the future about honoring a man who does not practice what he preaches.”
Whedon and the Cole, a Los Angeles architect, finalized their divorce in 2016.
A spokesperson for Whedon offered a brief but ultimately vague statement that claimed the essay contained inaccuracies but declined to name them.
“While this account includes inaccuracies and misrepresentations which can be harmful to their family, Joss is not commenting, out of concern for his children and out of respect for his ex-wife, ” the spokesperson said.
Whedon first gained fame in 1996 when he created the fantasy series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ” which follows the adventures of the titular Buffy, a girl no one takes particularly seriously but who can essentially save the world.
The show and Whedon were lauded for the feminist messages. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s feminism is still subversive, 20 years later, ” Vox recently proclaimed. “Buffy Summers: Third-Wave Feminist Icon, ” read a headline in the Atlantic.
He was aware of the label too, often addressing it in speeches.
