Late last year, Matt Damon f–ked up in a profound way. He misread the room, or maybe he’s been told his every thought and opinion is deeply meaningful for so long, he just thought people were dying for his thoughts on the #MeToo movement and the months of stories from victims of Hollywood predators, stories that included brutal rape, assault, harassment, threats, abuse and more. Matt wanted everyone to know that he alone could adjudicate these cases and determine which predators get “passes” and which predators deserved to keep their careers, because there’s a “spectrum of behavior,” like the Olympics of abuse.
Women around the world told Matt Damon to shove his spectrum-of-behavior up his tone-deaf ass. One of those women was Matt’s ex-girlfriend Minnie Driver. She trashed him on Twitter, and then she was still so angry, she sat down and gave an interview to the Guardian where she trashed him again. What she had to say was really powerful, and it’s still powerful, because she’s still talking about him and his all-too-prevalent mindset.
Minnie Driver isn’t letting Matt Damon off the hook for his controversial comments regarding sexual harassment. Back in December, the British actress took her former boyfriend and Good Will Hunting co-star to task after Damon argued there is a “spectrum of behavior” to consider when labeling individuals accused of abuse. Damon ultimately apologized, saying on the Today show he should’ve “listened a lot more” before weighing in on the #TimesUp movement.
In a new interview with the New York Times, Driver said Damon’s remarks “represented every intelligent, nice white male who feels it is their job to comment on the way that women metabolize stuff.” Driver referenced Damon’s original point of view, adding, “That somehow we should have a hierarchical system whereby touch on the arse is this, tits is this, you know, front bottom, back bottom, over the shirt, rape! That there would be some criteria.”
In Damon’s sit-down with ABC News, the Downsizing actor questioned, “You know, there’s a difference between patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right? Both of those behaviors need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn’t be conflated, right?”
Driver, who is a prominent advocate for the #MeToo campaign, thinks it’s crucial men are involved in the women’s fight, saying, “There’s no way to move forward unless we do this together.” When it comes to addressing the problem, the Speechless actress told the NYT she promotes a “model of truth and reconciliation” that allows survivors “to be seen and heard and the accusers get to hear that and get to metabolize that and then there is due process and then there is healing.”
Matt “represented every intelligent, nice white male who feels it is their job to comment on the way that women metabolize stuff.” That’s pretty much it. Matt’s thoughts were awful, clearly, but the way in which he dove into the discussion, the way in which he proudly announced his deplorable thoughts, it all smacked of that special kind of white male privilege. Matt has been told for decades that he’s precious and profound and brilliant and “nice,” that he’s America’s Handsome Boy-Next-Door and that of course everyone would not only want to hear him, but they would agree with him and think that he was so brilliant. Time’s Up on those motherf–kers too.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
Considering that they dated I don’t think she should be asked to single him out… I’m in the camp that you should stay far away from exes
Normally I’d agree with you, but Matt Damon has been riding on a “nice guy” reputation when he is anything but. As his ex she would know this well.
Exactly this! He has “played the nice guy “ when he is anything but. There have always been the rumor he announced his breakup with her on Oprah but failed to mention it to her. That withstanding he is and has proven himself to be a douchebag time and time again. Let’s not forget his best friend is also a Class A Douchebag. When people show you who they are, believe them
One of my favorites was when he schooled a black woman who was a participant on his HBO film making show how she should feel to be black
Yeah, I doubt he became this way due to fame. It’s just made it easier for him to surround himself with people who nod their heads as he gives his sermons.
I’m surprised it’s only now that people saw the real MD, the Effie Brown whitesplaining situation (a must-see) was in 2015 and he still preserved his image as a nice, chill guy somehow. It’s not just this one f**k-up, he has a pattern of explaining to minorities how they should think and feel. I’m glad Minnie is not letting him live that down.
Ditto. Matt’s golden reputation may be taking a few well-deserved hits (let’s not forget about his protection of Casey Affleck last year) and he deserves to be called out. Bravo to Minnie for doing this. I’ve loved her ever since Circle of Friends and adore her now on Speechless!
I honestly had forgotten that they dated until this article. I think someone needed to say this. Why not her?
Yeah, I agree she should drop this. Many other similar guys on whom she could focus! Even though of course she’s right, the personal undercurrent makes me uncomfortable.
I love that she keeps dragging him, I think she’s been waiting for this to happen.
I don’t love it. Coming from a sane place unmotivated by anger, Damon didn’t say anything wrong when saying there is a “spectrum”. Thats just common sense.
I’m sorry to have to break it you, but anger and outrage just don’t have any bearing on truth. And may God please bless you all.
Go to jail, then come back and tell us about the “spectrum.”
We’ll wait.
Seeing as how you are also here telling women what they are supposed to be feeling, of course you think this reaction is unwarranted. This would be a good time for you to listen to what people are saying, instead of telling them that their reactions are not “sane.”
Sean, it’s time to wake up.
Haaaahaaa! Oh Sean, you have no idea how obtuse you are. And I don’t believe in your god, so shove the patronizing blessings up your ass.
Sean – you sound like someone deeply unnerved by the idea that women can be and are legitimately angry and outraged over sexual harassment and men’s dismissal of it. Why should we NOT be angry over something so profoundly infuriating?
You try being sexually harassed at work or constantly treated that way and see how ‘sane’ you are.
@Sean
Boy did you come to the wrong site with that bs. Thank you for explaining what is sane and common sense. Not every angry person is telling the truth, but that doesn’t mean that the truth doesn’t inspire extreme anger. Time is Up for telling women how to respond to unacceptable behavior.
And I do believe in God and I still say shove your patronizing blessing up your a$$.
Well considering he dumped her on live TV I say go for it Minnie!
Totally! Karma …. aaaaahhhhh. She’s heavily involved in the movement and she was asked about his comments. I bet it felt delicious.
He didn’t dump her on TV. Her own sister gave an interview and said he had broken up with her like a week or so before. He said the same thing, that he had broken up with her before. She was mad he said that on TV before the Oscars, which made it uncomfortable with all of the publicity. I think that’s why she let people believe he did it on TV.
Yes, it’s been confirmed many times that he didn’t dump her on television.
She seems to have thought the breakup was just a blip and that they’d get back together shortly. I believe that when she heard what he’d said on Oprah it felt like he just broke up with her on TV, because that’s when she realised it was serious, but he had already ended things so confirming it wasn’t out of line.
I dont think I’ve seen her in movies before, but I like this woman a lot.
Lena, I recommend an older (1995) movie of hers, Circle of Friends. It was pre fame and she was wonderful in it. Not to mention it also stars the ever amazing Alan Cumming.
Dear god, issue a warning with it for the faint of heart. Beware the accents THE ACCENTS! Not since Kevin Spacey as An Ordinary Decent Criminal have I wanted to BAN people from doing an Irish accent. Apart from Job Voight, I’ve never heard an non Irish person do a passable Irish accent…well wait, Cate Blanchett wasn’t too bad as Veronica Guerin, but dear me, the accents in Circle of Friends were woeful,
i love that movie and it is so hard to find! Chris O’Donnell is also so cute in it.
I’ll try to find this movie, thank you for the recommandation!
An Ideal Husband with Rupert Everett, Jeremy Northam, Julianne Moore, and Cate Blanchette is absolutely sublime. Also old TV show The Riches with Eddie Izard.
I loved The Riches. 🙁
Great cast. I’ll will watch it, thank you! I love this site.
Her role was not much more than a cameo, but she stole every scene she had in Phantom of the Opera.
Matt Damon is the typical “nice’ guy. Look a little harder and he’s not nice at all.
He’s nice as long as he’s on top and everyone else stays in their place.
Bingo!
I like her a lot, Damon was batting above his average when he was with her. Just my opinion.
Agreed! Minnie Driver’s vastly more interesting and thoughtful than Matt Damon. So glad that she and others have called out this self-appointed, self-important, patronizing mansplainer and held him accountable for being so clueless about his white-male-privilege bubble.
Snaps for Minnie. Yes girl
It’s becoming nearly impossible to comment on this site. Either the page refreshes after Submit Comment but my post doesn’t appear, or it’s forever awaiting approval but doesn’t get it. This is a very archaic method of commenting.
Anyway, I agreed with Damon and no, I’m not a white guy, I’m a POC woman. There IS a spectrum. Look at Aziz Ansari. What he was accused of versus what Weinstein has been accused of — not even close. It is madness to lump them together. We cannot lose our grasp on common sense and reality in the midst of this.
Aziz Ansari got away with rape, Weinstein got away with a lot of rapes. That’s some spectrum, alright!
Aziz did not rape anyone.
He had sex with her without enthusiastic consent, that’s rape.
@happygolucky — No, they did not have sex
Is it injustice to the victim of full-out rape to be put on the same level as someone whose a** or breast was groped? Both are unacceptable, horrid and egregious, but are they the same level of assault and do they leave the same emotional impact on the victim?
I’m speaking as a woman who hasn’t been raped, but I’ve known some, and that trauma is significant and long-lasting. Does the lack of spectrum also lump victims of the sex trade in with the women getting groped? Again, both are unquestionably wrong, but is there a degree to the victim in terms of emotional and physical damage? That’s the only “spectrum” I see. The perps of EITHER are totally in the wrong, but from the rape victim’s perspective, I think the victims have a right to say one might be a worse offense than another due to the amount of damage done and to lump them all together seems unfair to those victims. That is just my ponder and as I am not a victim, I don’t claim it to be fact or truth.
I am opposed to ALL forms of unwelcome physical engagement and defend no person, male or female, who crosses that barrier.
I think the problem is that we are finally having a conversation about sexual assault and abuse in this industry, and it seems to me that since we started having this conversation men in particular want to have sub talks about what’s good assault and what’s bad assault. They want to make all of these behavioral distinctions – probably to forgive themselves for the things that they did once upon a time that they now realize weren’t okay. They don’t want to be lumped in with people who did extra horrible things. They want to distinguish between what they did and what the monsters did. But the problem is that it’s ALL bad, and we need to have a conversation about how ALL of that s*** is bad. To minimize and qualify certain abuses when we haven’t, as a culture, changed how we look at all abuse is dangerous and distracting because it does not move us forward. It leaves us quibbling over details, trying to codify abuse instead of fighting it. It also focuses empathy at the abuser and not the victim. The conversation becomes about how the abuser deserves to be treated instead of what the abuser did to the victim.
Well said and helpful, thank you.
No one believes they’re the same thing. Pretending like women are overreacting as the accusations come out is just gaslighting on a larger scale.
Unfortunately, if you watched Bill Maher last week you know this point still needs to be made. Because as ‘Sean’ illustrated above, there are still those who believe he didn’t say anything inappropriate.
@LL I totally couldn’t agree more. We can’t lump all of them together. You can go to jail for certain offenses, and not for others. So yes, there is a spectrum. And I for one have never really liked Minnie driver except for in “Return to Me.” Otherwise…ehh. And yes I am a woman.
I’m not saying he is innocent but Jesus lady get over it!! He dumped you twenty years ago, let’s press on.
She is calling him out for comments made recently. Many have done that about his comments. Why must her’s be driven by “scorned woman rage?” Moving on means we pretend to have no opinions about future acts of a former flame? Is that true of just women, or also men?
Of course there’s a “spectrum”, what’s infuriating is Damon acting as if he’s the only one who gets that and we all must be told, and saying it in a way to downplay accusations and women being heard.
Minnie is very good in Speechless right now.
To hear a man speak so eloquently about women and the #MeToo movement, please listen to Gabriel Byrne who was recently interviewed. He will lift your spirits with his feelings about this movement and why more needs to be done, that it hasn’t gone far enough. He was asked about it in response to Liam Neeson’s remarks. They are good friends, so he wasn’t bashing him, just disagreeing. I officially adore this man. I was blown away by his remarks. They are the best by a man so far.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmvpQYwuYRE
Oh Minnie I had no idea how much I liked you. <3
Matt Damon is a tool. This article highlights all the things wrong with him — both from Minnie and the article's writer. Kudos for stating it so well.
Matt has been told for decades that he’s precious and profound and brilliant and “nice,” that he’s America’s Handsome Boy-Next-Door and that of course everyone would not only want to hear him, but they would agree with him and think that he was so brilliant. Time’s Up on those motherf–kers too.
I literally heard a mic drop after I read this in my head.
Damon has been such a fucking asshole that he has ruined his movies for me. He reeks of privilege and has shown himself to be so weak minded that I feel revulsion when I see his stupid face.
Go Minnie, drag his stupid ass!