Actor-producer Matt Damon’s comments about sexual harassment continue to make headlines and anger fans and viewers. The actor suggested that most men he has worked with were not deviants.
The actor said the “preponderance” of men he has worked with are not predators and he would decide whether to collaborate with people accused of inappropriate behaver on a “case-by-case basis.”
“We’re in this watershed moment and it’s great but I think one thing that’s not being talked about is there are a whole lot of guys — the preponderance of men I’ve worked with — who don’t do this kind of thing and whose lives aren’t going to be affected.”
“If I have to sign a sexual harassment thing, I don’t care, I’ll sign it. I would have signed it before. I don’t do that and most of the people I know don’t do that,” Damon said in an interview with Business Insider.
The 47-year-old actor was asked if he would back out of a movie if someone prominent involved, such as an actor, director, or producer, had been accused of sexual misconduct.
“That always went into my thinking. I mean, I wouldn’t want to work with somebody who — life’s too short for that. But the question of if somebody had allegations against them, you know, it would be a case-by-case basis. You go, ‘What’s the story here?’” Damon responded.
Last week, Damon ignited controversy after discussing the topic with critic Peter Travers. He similarly championed the “watershed moment” of women coming forward while also cautioning against conflating “patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation.”
He mainly compared the allegations that have been made against Senator Al Franken, who recently announced he would be resigning from the US Senate and Harvey Weinstein.
Twitter was flooded with tweets of people expressing their frustration over the actor’s comments.
One person wrote, “Listen, if I wanted to hear Matt Damon’s thoughts, I’d strike up a conversation with a drunk man loitering outside of a gas station.”
Listen, if I wanted to hear Matt Damon’s thoughts, I’d strike up a conversation with a drunk man loitering outside of a gas station
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) December 18, 2017
Another person wrote, “Hi ladies, can we all just be quiet for second and stop chatting about our #metoo stories. Matt Damon wants us so to thank all the men who haven’t assaulted us for not assaulting us.”
Hi ladies, can we all just be quiet for second and stop chatting about our #metoo stories. Matt Damon wants us so to thank all the men who haven’t assaulted us for not assaulting us. pic.twitter.com/wlN1SNsXQq
— Hanna Ines Flint (@HannaFlint) December 18, 2017
While, another tweet read, “Matt Damon = every white man who is used to people taking his opinion seriously even if he has no idea wtf he’s talking about.”
Matt Damon = every white man who is used to people taking his opinion seriously even if he has no idea wtf he’s talking about.
— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) December 18, 2017