Buffy beef? Explaining all the rumours Alyson Hannigan and Sarah Michelle Gellar had a feud

This week, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan – two icons forever known as Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg – have been on a press tour as a duo and have had fans going crazy for it. Not because they’re discussing their work on Buffy – although, they are and it’s a pleasure to hear as always. Not because they’re doing important awareness work fore their campaign on meningitis – although, they are and it’s obviously very important to them. But because for a long time there have always been rumours that despite playing on screen best pals in Buffy, there were constant whispers of beef and that Alyson Hannigan and Sarah Michelle Gellar had a big feud.

Whilst clearly these are rumours and gossip, and even if there was anything bad it’s buried – here’s all the lore you need to know about why people thought Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan had a beef filled feud.

There were some jibes made by Alyson in the past

Alyson had said in interviews during Buffy’s tenure that Sarah found out Buffy was ending before the rest of them and hadn’t informed the cast fast enough it was ending. Alyson also made the decision to sing minimal amounts in the musical episode Once More With Feeling, and made a dig that she would have maybe said otherwise if she knew she could get autotune – which many took as a slant towards Sarah.

However, this was all quite petty stuff and the two had been friendly in the years that followed as they got older and had children. Sarah had posted a pic of the two of them at a party in 2015.

The issue of Joss Whedon

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Okay, and this is where it gets complex. The rumours have often circulated regarding an Alyson Hannigan and Sarah Michelle Gellar Buffy feud over the fact that when people made allegations about the work environment on Buffy – Alyson is one of the only cast members to not speak out against Joss. In fact, her and husband Alexis Denisof are still super tight with Joss. Sarah herself has supported cast members like Charisma Carpenter in her claims against Joss Whedon.

Other cast members have said that Joss was known to play favourites on set, which led to tension.

Some of the most concrete information we got about Sarah and Michelle’s relationship came out of Evan Ross Katz’s 2022 book Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Hearts. Sarah Michelle Gellar was interviewed for this book, along with many other cast members – Alyson Hannigan could not be interviewed due to scheduling conflicts.

In the book, Sarah confirmed her and Alyson had “heated moments” when they were on the set of Buffy.

“Look, we worked really hard hours. We were young, we had ups and downs. Everybody had arguments,” Sarah told Evan. “There were times where David [Boreanaz] could be a handful. He never really was to me, but I’m sure [he was]. It wasn’t rosy. Nobody gets along all the time. And Alyson and I had moments. There’s no question. But you’re young.

“I think that unfortunately, the set we were on and the world we were in was pitting us against each other,” she added. “I think it would have been different if it was today. It would have been a very different relationship. But we have a great relationship now.

“There are times where I wish I could have done things differently, but I didn’t know how to handle the stress that I was under. I was really young, and I didn’t have any outside life. I was the one that was always working, and sometimes I would be resentful of the fact that they didn’t have to work all the time. It ebbs and flows, and anyone that tells you they get along with everyone all the time, it’s just not true.”

Emma Caulfield, who played Anya in Buffy, explained more in the book and said “She was the lead on the show. It was an ensemble cast absolutely, but the show lived and died with her. There’s a level of power there and a level of voice that needs to be accounted for. And if that isn’t received well by certain people who have very large egos and who have no interest in working in that fashion, then yeah, there’s going to be conflict. There are so many examples of what happened from the top down of, ‘This will really make the girls hate each other. This will make the men angry. This is going to stir some toxic shit.’ And … and it did.”

Alyson has praised Sarah in other interviews

Speaking about Sarah Michelle Gellar to Huff Post, Alyson Hannigan quashed more rumours of a Buffy feud by saying Sarah “worked 18-hour days for years” and that she “was incredibly professional, worked her butt off for seven years, and gave amazing television.”

Now the pair of them are clearly all on good terms and honestly, as a huge fan, it’s amazing seeing them so happy and doing things together after all these years! Now cast Willow in the reboot, end of.

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Featured image via 20th Century Fox and Bei/Shutterstock