‘The View’ Failed Its Audience By Not Asking Sarah Michelle Gellar About Her Controversial ‘Buffy’ Cancelation Statements

By Alex Vena

Sarah Michelle Gellar‘s Tuesday morning appearance on The View was surprisingly devoid of any mention of Hulu cancelling its planned Buffy the Vampire Slayer refresh.

The Ready or Not 2: Here I Come star sat down at the Hot Topics Table earlier today to discuss the new film from Searchlight Pictures, the studio whose television division was behind the reboot of the hit ’90s supernatural drama series. Hulu and Searchlight Pictures are owned by The Walt Disney Company, while The View is produced by ABC News, which is also owned by The Walt Disney Company.

While Sunny Hostin did praise Gellar’s work as an “iconic scream queen,” citing the actress’ work in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scream 2, and I Know What You Did Last Summer, she did not ask Gellar about the Buffy refresh’s cancellation, but rather if “intense fight scenes” have become “muscle memory” for her at this point.

Gellar opened up to People last night about her Chloe Zhao-directed series not coming to fruition, explaining that “no one saw this coming, including the head of Searchlight [Pictures].” She also shared that she got the phone call with the news while she was at South by Southwest (SXSW) on Friday (March 13), as she and her Ready or Not 2 co-stars “were stepping onto stage for the premiere of their own movie.”

“And it’s also the weekend of Chloé [Zhao] going to the Oscars as a best director nominee for Hamnet,’ she shared of Zhao, who directed the reboot pilot. “For them to call us on the Friday of what should have been Chloé’s victory lap for an incredible film, and my world premiere of something that I worked very hard for is … that says something.”

Photo: ABC

The reboot, which would have been called Buffy: New Sunnydale, was set to star Ryan Kiera Armstrong. Gellar had broken the news to the public that “Hulu has decided not to move forward with Buffy: New Sunnydale” in an Instagram video on Saturday (March 14). She thanked Zhao, noting that she “never thought I would find myself back in Buffy’s stylish yet affordable boots,” and also for reminding her “how much I love [Buffy] and how much she means, not only to me, but to all of you.”

“This doesn’t change any of that, and I promise if the apocalypse actually comes… you can still beep me,” she concluded.

In her interview with People, Gellar alluded to an “executive”on the project “who was not only not a fan of the original, but was proud to constantly remind us that he had never seen the entirety of the series and how it wasn’t for him.” Deadline reports that “multiple sources” identified the executive as Disney Television Group President Craig Erwich.

A source close to the project informed People that “Disney owns the IP” for the reboot.

Photo: Hulu

“As it stands today, it can’t go elsewhere,” the source shared. “But that doesn’t mean the team behind the reboot, including Sarah and Chloé, Nora and Lilla Zuckerman [the screenwriters and executive producers], can’t take their talent and ideas elsewhere.”

Despite the timeliness and newsworthiness of these developments, The View never asked Gellar to expand on her unusually candid statements that People published last night. We can only imagine that the powers-that-be over at Disney were in conversation with producers at The View either last night or this morning to encourage them not to pour any gasoline on the already red hot fires of corporate in-fighting, and also that Gellar likely found herself on the receiving end of a tongue-lashing from an irate corporate exec after last night’s story broke.

Over the course of its nearly 30 years on-air, the ladies of The View have always prided themselves on asking the tough questions, which is why we can’t help but feeling like The View failed at its stated mission of encouraging frank conversations between women today — ESPECIALLY considering that the Buffy refresh was being directed by an Oscar-winning woman (Zhao) and executive produced by Gellar and was (allegedly) shut down by a man (Craig Erwich, president of the Disney Television Group).

The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.