Joss Whedon Didn’t Quit Twitter Because of All Those Mean Tweets

When Joss Whedon abruptly quit Twitter the other day, he did so without giving a reason, leaving many to speculate why he ditched the service. It didn’t take long for a photo to start circulating, in which many angry tweets directed at him were placed around his final tweet, suggesting that the reason was obvious: he couldn’t deal with all the people accusing him of being a misogynist. Whedon has finally spoken out about why he left the service, and no, it had nothing to do with those tweets at all.

There’s been a bit of division between those who believe Black Widow’s arc in Avengers: Age of Ultron is a sexist one, and those who believe it’s empowering. Given that Whedon has spoken out against GamerGate and proudly declared himself a feminist, there was some backlash from fans who felt he did Black Widow a disservice (for the record, I think her story is the most resonant and compelling of all 128 characters in that film).

In an interview with BuzzFeed, Whedon calls the assumption that he left Twitter due to that backlash “horses—t” — he left Twitter for the same reason many do: he needed to focus on real life. He explains that he’s “been attacked by militant feminists” the entire time he’s been using the service, and adds, “That’s something I’m used to.”

Whedon went on to explain that he needed to rid himself of the distraction so he could focus on his creative endeavors:

I just thought, Wait a minute, if I’m going to start writing again, I have to go to the quiet place. And [Twitter] is the least quiet place I’ve ever been in my life … It’s like taking the bar exam at Coachella.

Right now, the writer/director says he’s learning to “live like a person,” which should probably make everyone feel guilty about how much time they’ve been spending on Twitter. Take a tip from Joss Whedon, guys: put Twitter down and go be productive for an hour.