Joss Whedon’s Bizarre Pro-Feminism Speech Where He Called His Mother “Sexy”

SUMMARY

• Joss Whedon received an award for his feminism in 2006.
• During his acceptance speech, he referred to his mother as "sexy," sparking controversy.
• Whedon faced allegations of misconduct from multiple individuals, including his ex-wife and former colleagues.

Joss Whedon was inevitably one of the most commendable talents in the entire entertainment industry before the series of allegations came crashing down on him in recent years. While accusations from his own ex-wife were one thing, this controversy didn’t stop there as the screenwriter cum director was met with severe claims of mistreatment from the people he worked with as well.

Joss Whedon. | Credits: Gage Skidmore/CCA-by-SA-2.0/Wikimedia Commons.

If that wasn’t enough, there were some of his own comments that later left him wishing he had been silent instead. For one, while giving a speech after receiving an award for his tremendous feminism, Whedon once even went as far as calling his mother “sexy.” Of course, this didn’t sit well with anyone, but unfortunately for him, it wasn’t the only mistake people seemed to catch.

Joss Whedon Once Called His Own Mother “Sexy”

Back in 2006, Joss Whedon was presented with a rather exceptional honor for writing all the stories he did about strong, independent women. Equality Now, an organization co-owned by one of Whedon’s mother’s students dedicated to promoting women’s rights, celebrated the filmmaker with an award at an evening dedicated to honoring “men on the front lines” of feminism.

But while the honor was commendable, what went wrong was the words he chose during his acceptance speech. While The Avengers director did praise his mother Lee Stearns “extraordinary, inspirational, tough, cool,” he also, somewhy, went ahead to add “sexy” to this list of compliments. Years later, the screenwriter would look back and confess in an interview with Vulture:

[My mother] was a remarkable woman and an inspiring person, but sometimes those are hard people to be raised by.

Joss Whedon. | Credits: Gage Skidmore/CCA-by-SA-2.0/Wikimedia Commons.

If Whedon had called his late mother “sexy” during the time when his fans pretty much worshipped him or during any other event, things may not have been taken that seriously and his comment could have even been slapped away like a compliment. But since this resurfaced right when he was nearly drowning in controversy due to all the allegations against him and at the most inappropriate event for this comment, Whedon wasn’t let go of easily.

And yet, the worst part was that this was hardly the end of the fuel that ignited the fire of his controversy.

Joss Whedon Has Been Accused of Misconduct by Multiple People

While Whedon’s ex-wife Kai Cole condemning him as a “hypocrite preaching feminist ideals” while alleging him of cheating on her throughout their marriage in an open letter on the blog The Wrap was one thing, the director further faced fire as Charisma Carpenter, one of the actresses on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, accused him of having a “history of being casually cruel.”

Adding to this was the Firefly writer who confessed to having witnessed him leading a meeting that was “basically 90 minutes of vicious mockery” of a female colleague for writing a script that wasn’t up to par. Then there was the costume designer who alleged he “grabbed my arm and dug in his fingers until his fingernails imprinted the skin” when the designs didn’t fit his standards.

Joss Whedon. | Credits: Unknown Author/CCA-by-SA-4.0/Wikimedia Commons.

There were further allegations about Whedon allegedly making out with an actress on the floor of someone else’s office. However, the best response that the filmmaker had while being confronted about these was that he was not as “civilized” back then and that he would never intentionally humiliate anyone. As for the rest of the allegations, Whedon simply denied most of them.

But, of course, that was barely the end of it all. Adding to his controversy, Whedon confessed that he identified more closely with Richard III than with any other character in Shakespeare’s canon – the very character who was a conniving, sadistic, yet charismatic aristocrat who sought the crown and tricked women into bed while murdering anyone and everyone who got in his way.

Unfortunately for him, the list of Vulture covering the allegations against Joss Whedon and his honest reaction to them went a lot longer than this. And to make this series of unfortunate events even worse for him, Whedon’s calling his mother “sexy” while trying to deliver a speech of commendation for her at an event that honored men standing at the forefront of feminism was hardly the worst part of it all.

Written by Mahin Sultan

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