I felt like the best thing to do was to just be quiet’: Casey Affleck breaks silence about sexual misconduct allegations against him and the #metoo movement
Casey Affleck made the conscious decision to stay relatively quiet when two civil lawsuits, claiming sexual misconduct against him, began to gain steam in the media amid the #MeToo movement in 2016.
But on Monday, during an episode of Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, the actor and director opened up about the controversy and the lessons learned.
‘Who would not be supportive of the MeToo movement? That’s an idea that’s even out there?’ the 43-year-old rhetorically asked during the conversation.
‘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.’
His take: Casey Affleck opened up about the sexual misconduct allegations against him during an episode of Dax Shepard’s Airchair Expert podcast on Monday
The main villain of the #MeToo movement emerged as former Miramax producer Weinstein (pictured with Affleck and British actress Felicity Jones in 2017) but Affleck was also caught up in MeToo when the cinematographer and a producer on his movie I’m Still Here made allegations against him
Affleck was quick to point out that the subject scares him and that it’s still ‘very hard to talk about because the #MeToo movement are values that are at the heart of my being; just the way I was raised.’
The Gone Baby Gone star was sued by two women who worked on his 2010 mockumentary comedy-drama I’m Still Here, which documented former brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix’s transition from acting to hip-hop.
One of the films producers claimed ‘sexual harassment’ and ‘breach of oral contract.’ The cinematographer alleged ‘intentional infliction of emotional distress’ and ‘breach of oral contract.’
Both suits were settled out of court for an undisclosed sum of money.
The legal setting: Two women, who worked on Affleck’s mockumentary film I’m Still Here, starring Joaquin Phoenix, filed civil lawsuits claiming sexual misconduct in 2010
The Massachusetts native confessed it was hard not to talk about the accusations, and the movement as a whole, in detail over the years.
‘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.’
He added, ‘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.’
Shepard and Affleck also touched on talk of how to make the distinction between the worst cases of misconduct and the tamest in the post #MeToo era.
‘[It] isn’t about, oh well this isn’t so bad, and that’s really horrible. It’s that it’s systemic. It is accepted culturally at it’s tamest manifestation of it and at it’s worst, and that it all needs to be turned on it’s head, eradicated, not allowed for, and that kind of like lightning bolt I think is effective.’
Getting real: Affleck, 43, confessed that he tolerated and contributed to an unprofessional environment on the set of I’m Still Here, due in part, to a lot of partying during the shoot; he is pictured in 2010 with Phoenix, who is his former real-life brother-in-law
After the allegations against Affleck came out, two other women employed on the set of I’m Still Here defended his conduct on set, insisting they had never seen anything out of the ordinary.
He said he appreciated the gesture but confessed that he tolerated and contributed to an unprofessional environment, due in part, to a lot of partying during the shoot.
‘I think it’s a lesson that I had to sort of learn and be humble about; I was the producer. I was technically the boss.,’ he said.
At one point, Shepard’s co-host, Monica Padman, weighed-in and said the fact that women are capable of lying is never considered.
‘I wouldn’t say that it’s helpful to say that well women lie, or to approach the argument from the point of who is lying; It actually doesn’t help,’ Affleck argued, while comparing it to bickering kids who incessantly accuse each other of lying.
‘What really matters is you resolve this in a way without hitting each other and calling each other liars. It’s not really the most important part of it.’
Confession: Affleck said it was hard not to talk about the accusations in detail over the years
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