Amongst the liberal power players to be caught up in the Me Too Movement scandal that swept the nation in late 2017 are Academy Award winners Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein, comedian Louis C.K. and journalists Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose.
More people will be exposed as time goes on and some just aren’t taking that too well.
And this A-list actor who was accused during the scandal claims it “scares” him to talk about it.
In the same year, he also played Robert Ford in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.”
A decade later, Casey Affleck won the Academy Award for Best Actor for “Manchester by the Sea” – shocking everyone because he beat out Denzel Washington for his directorial debut (and starring role) for “Fences.”
But just two months before Casey took the stage to collect his golden statue, he was exposed for sexually harassing his female crew members when he was on set for his documentary starring Joaquin Phoenix “I’m Still Here.” It resulted in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
In December 2008, Amanda White agreed to serve as a producer on the project. She had a decade-long history of working with him. Over the course of filming, White alleged in the suit that she was repeatedly harassed.
On one occasion, she claimed that Affleck ordered a crew member to take off his pants and show White his penis—even after she vehemently objected. She claimed that Affleck repeatedly referred to women as “cows,” and recounted his sexual exploits with reckless abandon. In her complaint, White recalled Affleck asking her “Isn’t it about time you get pregnant?” once he learned her age, and suggesting that she and a male crew member reproduce. Another time, Casey got into bed naked with one of his personal assistants without their blessing.
The accusations go on and on.
But Casey Affleck appeared on Dak Shepard’s podcast “Armchair Expert” and discussed the allegations and the Me Too Movement saying it’s “very hard to talk about and it scares me.”
He said, “I really wanted to support all but I felt like the best thing to do was to just be quiet so that I didn’t seem to be in opposition to something that I really wanted to champion. It’s a tough spot to be in, especially if you really do appreciate and want to be a support of the side that seems angriest, and the anger is being directed at you.”
That’s a convenient way of denying the allegations without technically denying it. If you read through the lines, he’s definitely proclaiming his innocence.
Affleck added, “The way that I’m thought of sometimes by certain people recently has been so antithetical to who I really am that it’s been frustrating. And not being able to talk about it has been hard because I really wanted to support all of that, but I felt like the best thing to do was to just be quiet so I didn’t seem to be in opposition to something that I really wanted to champion.”
But while his comments are perceived as being the opposite of the allegations, he’s claimed differently before in the past.
In an interview with Associated Press last August, Affleck admitted that he deeply regretted the unprofessional environment that took place on the set of “I’m Still Here,” while also noting he was happy things were changing for women in the workplace.
Doesn’t this seem to be a classic case of too little, too late?
Maybe he has changed but he must repent for his behavior on “I’m Still Here” simultaneously.