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A year and a half after sexual harassment allegations resurfaced against him, Casey Affleck is finally ready to talk about the #MeToo movement. In a new interview on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, Affleck explained his decision to remain silent for the past year, saying that the situation is “very hard to talk about and it scares me.” The actor went on to explain that he “really wanted to support” women coming forward as a result of the #MeToo movement, but when allegations of misconduct originally made in 2010 resurfaced last year (he has denied the allegations) he “felt like the best thing to do was to just be quiet.” Said Affleck, “It’s a tough spot to be in.”
During his discussion with Shepard, Affleck reflected on the allegations made by two women working on his 2010 mockumentary I’m Still Here. At the time, the women, both crew members, alleged that Affleck verbally and physically harassed them on set. Affleck has denied the allegations, and opted to settle their complaint with two lawsuits. In early 2018, just as the #MeToo movement was getting off the ground, news of the allegations and settlements resurfaced, and Affleck withdrew as an Oscars presenter to avoid further controversy. He has stayed relatively quiet about the allegations ever since, although he apologized for the “unprofessional environment” on the set of I’m Still Here in an August 2018 interview with Associated Press.
When asked about the controversy, Affleck was clear. “I really wanted to support it 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,” he told Shepard. “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.”
“I can’t imagine who would not be supportive of the #MeToo movement,” he continued, adding that “it’s been frustrating” that people paint him as an adversary to the movement. “The way that I’m thought of sometimes by certain people recently has been so antithetical to who I really am,” said Affleck. “Who would not be supportive of the #MeToo movement? That’s an idea that’s even out there? That there are some people saying we do not believe in equality and we think the workplace should be a dangerous place for certain people and not for others. That’s preposterous.”
“It’s very, very hard to talk about and it scares me,” he added. “Mostly because the values of the #MeToo movement are values that are at the heart of my being, just the way I was raised.”
Listen to Casey Affleck’s entire Armchair Expert interview here.
