LONDON: Actor Liam Neeson says the Hollywood sexual harassment scandal has sparked “a bit of a witch hunt.”
Neeson spoke about the trending issue during an interview on the Irish talk show The Late Late Show, where he said: “There are some people, famous people, being suddenly accused of touching some girl’s knee or something and suddenly they are being dropped from their program.”
The actor was referring to the US radio presenter and writer Garrison Keillor, who was dropped by Minnesota Public Radio last year over an allegation of “inappropriate behaviour.”
However, Neeson added that this was different from the “other Harvey Weinstein stuff.”
Neeson also said he was “on the fence” regarding sexual misconduct allegations against Dustin Hoffman.
When asked to elaborate on this, the actor said, “when you’re doing a play, and you’re with your family, other actors, you do silly things. And it becomes superstitious. If you don’t do it every night, you think it’s gonna jinx the show.”
However, the Neeson was quick to add that he had not done “similar things” during his career.
Nonetheless, the 65-year-old star believes that the “#MeToo” movement taking place “across every industry (is) healthy.”
Surprisingly, Neeson isn’t the only celebrity to speak up against the anti-sexual harassment movement.
On Tuesday, French actress Catherine Deneuve signed an open letter, signed by nearly 100 actresses, writers, and academics and published in the French newspaper Le Monde, slamming the #MeToo anti-harassment movement for forcing a “wave of purification.”
“Rape is a crime, but trying to seduce someone, even persistently or cack-handedly, is not – nor is men being gentlemanly a macho attack,” the letter read, according to The Guardian. “Men have been punished summarily, forced out of their jobs when all they did was touch someone’s knee or try to steal a kiss.”
The controversial letter comes as the Time’s Up movement continues to gather pace. With more than 300 figures in the entertainment industry signed on (including Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, America Ferrera and Nicole Kidman), the initiative aims to fight sexual harassment, assault and inequality for women in all kinds of workplaces.
[…] Source link […]
Comments are closed.