Hello, it is I, your resident American correspondent, corresponding to you from America, on America’s second-greatest holiday: Thanksgiving, the day we stuff our faces with turkey so we don’t have to talk to each other. (The best holiday is July 4, because fireworks.) In honor of my homeland’s holiday tradition of making way too much food, here is a gossip story with way too many possibilities: Joss Whedon has left his HBO show,The Nevers. The news came yesterday, via CinemaBlend, where Whedon issued a statement that dropped on the afternoon before a major holiday, which is like a super-sized Friday gossip dump. Whedon’s statement reads in part:
“…while developing and producingThe Nevershas been a joyful experience, I realize that the level of commitment required moving forward, combined with the physical challenges of making such a huge show during a global pandemic, is more than I can handle without the work beginning to suffer. I am genuinely exhausted, and am stepping back to martial my energy towards my own life, which is also at the brink of exciting change.”
Okay, SO, here are your options, a veritable BUFFET of gossip possibility. One, Whedon is genuinely burnt out and cannot continue with his current workload; two, Whedon has a major life change coming, such as a new baby or he’s just been left a mysterious hill-top mansion in a distant relative’s will and he can’t wait to see what’s inside; three, something went wrong with HBO, the network producingThe Nevers, on the creative side; or four, this is in some way connected to Ray Fisher’s allegations of Whedon’s “completely unacceptable” behavior on the set ofJustice League.
If you ask me, which no one TECHNICALLY did, I think option one is perfectly valid. Whedon has a history of burning out—we saw him burnt out during the press tour ofAvengers: Age of Ultron，随着幕后的谣言，倦怠和疲惫困扰着其他惠顿的作品，任何人都摆脱了苛刻的高压工作来管理其心理健康的人都是完全可以理解的。如果是这种情况，我希望事情对他有用。但。HBO关于Whedon退出的声明就像是企业说的版本的“新手机，谁”：“We have parted ways with Joss Whedon. We remain excited about the future ofThe Neversand look forward to its premiere in the summer of 2021.”
那很冷！那是冷冻的公共关系冰立方！他们分道扬,，但不希望他一切！甚至希望他中等！他们不知道乔斯·惠顿（Joss Whedon Bitch）！他们继续前进！坏消息即将出现，HBO目前不想看到支持乔斯·惠顿（Joss Whedon）！这不是整个故事！
Obviously, there is something else happening here.The Neversis one of HBO’s bright new gems for 2021, a Victorian-set superhero show from the man who made superheroes the biggest pop culture currency of the 2010s. If Whedon’s exit was just about personal reasons, you think HBO’s parting statement would be a little kinder, a little more sympathetic. This statement reads like HBO covering their ass, like they don’t want to be seen to be TOO friendly with Whedon at this juncture. Which, naturally, calls to mind Ray Fisher’s allegations. To recap, after Fisher first alleged Whedon, along with some (now former) Warner Brothers and DC Films brass, behaved inappropriately during the making ofJustice League, an强度rnal investigation was ordered by WarnerMedia但费舍尔不开心with the investigation. Last month, inan interview with Forbes, Fisher elaborated, but his initial comments accusing Whedon of lightening an actor of color’s skin tone wereremoved from the interview. (Whedon’s lawyer rebutted Fisher’s comments). This is one of the longest-running gossip stories of 2020, and it is also one of the most contentious.
也许会变得更糟？To be fair, nothing about any of this connects Whedon’s exit fromThe Neversto Ray Fisher’s allegations, but I HAVE A MEMORY, and it is MAKING LEAPS. Like, could it be a coincidence that a month after Fisher ups the ante in the ongoing conflict aroundJustice League, Joss Whedon leaves his high-profile HBO show, his much-touted return to TV? Yes! But also, this stinks to high heaven. It’s the timing—a month after Fisher made specific allegations against Whedon, even though they were retracted from publication, and then this exit statement dumped on a major holiday eve, which is ALWAYS suspect, and also that cold as ice HBO statement. No well wishes, no “hope he feels better”, no “we loved working with him”. They’re keepingThe Nevers对于2021年，但该声明的读物就像他们不太在乎那个该死的节目的创造者Whedon。
所以,你认为发生了什么事?
