I assume Casey Affleck is currently promoting Light of My Life, the “post-apocalyptic” movie where Casey stars and directed himself. The film is about a “world without women,” the ladies having conveniently died off from a “plague” which may or may not be toxic masculinity. I have no idea what to expect from Casey’s promotional tour for this film, but given that he’s the director too, I imagine he’ll do more interviews than he has in the past few years. Casey won the Best Actor Oscar just a few years ago, but his (ultimately successful) Oscar campaign involved a lot of conversation about the two sexual harassment lawsuits which he settled out of court back in 2010. Casey hasn’t really known what to say about the #MeToo era, but he tried to speak about it again with Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert podcast. Some quotes:
Lessons learned from the Me Too Movement: ‘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.’ 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.’
He wanted to talk about what happened in 2010 & the Me Too Movement: ‘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. 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.’
Making 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 its worst, and that it all needs to be turned on its head, eradicated, not allowed for, and that kind of like lightning bolt I think is effective.’
He was in charge in 2010: 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.
I rolled my eyes so hard at that last part: “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…” Like he merely willfully turned a blind eye to misconduct (which he did as well) and didn’t actively harass and behave inappropriately with women. And he was the director and the producer. Now, just to give him a slight bit of credit (I know, I know), I like that he said this: “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 its worst.” That’s something his bro Matt Damon refused to acknowledge, that it wasn’t about degrees of misconduct or harassment, it was about the systemic culture of hurting and harassing women.
As for Casey saying that he made a choice to be quiet because he secretly supported the movement… I actually pondered that for a moment and decided that Casey would have been bashed for whatever he said or didn’t say, so staying quiet probably was his best option. It is what it is.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
If we really want to move forward in society in general, we have to accept people can grow and learn from their mistakes. I am not saying everything is excusable, but, especially after justice was done (in any way), we have to agree to let the person grow if he/she is willing to. Seems like a good start for him.
Where was justice done though? He settled the cases and never openly admitted to any of the things he did. You cannot be forgiven for something you don’t take responsibility for. He is NOT growing if he STILL cannot admit that he did wrong.
I’m guessing there are nondisclosure elements to the settlement. Things he legally cannot say publicly.
As an attorney who handles workplace discrimination/harassment cases, I am shaking my head at this. What exactly do you think should have happened? If the women who filed the claims didn’t get what they wanted, they would not have signed the settlement agreements.
As a commenter below put it so perfectly: He can easily do away with the nondisclosure elements since HE was the boss on that set and they sued him. There is nothing stopping from taking real, public responsibility but the fact that he doesn’t want to.
Feel free to move on if what he says and did is enough for you. I think these are hollow talking points because he has a movie to promote.
Thank you for saying this. I have been thinking quite a bit about the line between someone who is a hopeless case (the Weinsteins of the world) versus someone who can see the bigger picture of the impact of their actions and learn from it (Casey Affleck, maybe?). I hesitate to cancel someone like Casey because I think that a lot of people who have the power to affect change (many are men) CAN change their views and behavior once they hear women talk about their experiences..
This. 100%
I think so too.
@lena – yes, thank you for saying this as well. I don’t really remember Casey’s offense but people who have erred should be given a chance to change their ways. Casey, whether he truly accepts his culpability or not, at least now knows that he is on the “angry” side’s radar and if he f**ks up again, he may not have much a career left.
Nah. He definitely ALSO had the option to stand up and admit what he did. He chose to stayquiet so he could go win that Oscar. And now he’s go a movie coming out and needs to promote it so he’s out here saying all the right things suddenly.
I can’t with him and I definitely unfollowed Dax Shepard for giving him the platform and once for all proving again that he’s a celebrity bootlicker who will do anything to make a celebrity like him – even attempt to defend his behaviour apparently. It was excrutiating to listen to and Dax managed to make himself look even worse than Casey.
I was waiting for someone to address Dax Shepherd’s contribution to the conversation. He was TERRIBLE. Kept making excuses for Casey Affleck’s behavior, which interestingly, CA wanted no part of. And the woman (whose name escapes me) who then talked about women lying?!?! Disgusting. I hope a lot of people un followed that podcast.
OMG even Monica entered the “some women lie” bandwagon. I was appalled.
That podcast was a mess. I don’t listen regularly because Dax Shepard is obnoxious, but I caught this episode out of curiosity and while not shocked that Dax is carrying water for Casey, I was appalled his assistant did, too. Yikes all day.
I was going to write a post about this, but saw your comment and I’m following your lead.
I listen to Armchair Expert on and off, and every single time I quit is because I can’t stand his subservience to celebrities. This particular episode felt so forced, I had to turn it off for a while and come back to it later. Casey was defending himself (and I half chose to believe he’s being honest) but Dax was just talking nonsense, spilling big words, going around in circular arguments… it was painful.
Thank you, BaronSamedi! THIS!!! While I do believe, I *have* to believe, people can learn from their mistakes, to grow, to change, I in NO WAY believe CA has learned anything. He has a movie to promote and is just spouting out some Crisis Manager/PR’s talking points. If he HAD ANY growth, he’d just out and out take REAL responsibility for what he did. And really, do we think that situation was the ONLY time he’d done things like that on set?? That’s just the only one we HEARD about. FEH! DONE with perpetrators AND enablers!
I listen to Dax’s podcast (have only not listened to those with Scientologist guests) and mostly enjoy it (I even came around on Gwyneth a bit) even though his ass-kissing is sometimes cringeworthy, but I was so disappointed to see this guest announcement on Instagram that began with “lovely human” as the description for CA. I’m not necessarily against CA getting the opportunity to show that he’s grown and learned from his past, but those 2 words are so condescending and dismissive of what those women went through that I can’t bring myself to listen to the episode (maybe any episode) especially after I’ve heard about Monica’s comment that “women sometimes lie”. I’m also not the only one… the comments on the Insta post were out of control.
I feel like he has to say these comments because he’s promoting a movie. Maybe he’s serious, but I really don’t care what he has to say at this point. I think the Affleck’s, and their buddy Matt Damon, are a bunch of bros who will never get it.
Nope. He could have talked about how he was part of the problem. And he could have released the victims from their NDAs signed when they settled so they could talk about what he did to them.
None of these men (dear god I hope there’s an exception to this) ever really apologize in their pr apologies.
How about: I harassed women because I could, I never thought about the effect on them because i didn’t have to and didn’t care and pretended what I was doing wasn’t wrong. It was wrong. I was an asshole. Everything they said was true.
I had a hard time accepting that because in our own heads we tend to downplay our own shitty behavior/ which is something I did.
I hedged and talked around it and down played it.
But my behavior was abhorrent.
Never again. And if I see another man harassing women, whether powerful or not, I’m going to say something, out loud and in public.
Thank you for putting it so much better than I could above. Judging by the replies I got it wasn’t clear enough that he just didn’t earn those gold stars in any way shape or form…
Ariel, THIS is a PERFECT statement. Shame he didn’t hire you to write it! THAT is a statement that would have people thinking, agreeing, and believing that this frat boy has grown up and DID change his behavior patterns.
I have seen only one apology/statement that really made me feel like this guy actually gets it – realizes what he did, owned up to it, and some of what he said is very similar to what you said above, and that is Dan Harmon. His is the yardstick I hold all these “apologies” against and most come short. It’s really worth a read. It makes me hopeful that some of these men can actually learn.
https://time.com/5100019/dan-harmon-megan-ganz-sexual-harassment-apology/
Can you really be a champion for a cause when you are part of the problem the cause is trying to root out?
He may be trying to grow but he has never owned up to what he did to those women, so his words fall pretty flat and become nothing more than virtue-signalling.
Why is his skin so sallow? He looks like a Morlock. Is he well?
Lol
I just… think he’s not tanned right now? I mean, who knows. The photos aren’t super flattering, but is his skin normally much better complexion wise? But I’m asking this as someone even paler than he is, so maybe my view is skewed by my own skin tone haha.
I believe Casey has learned from his past mistakes and he was wise to stay quiet. I like him as an actor and look forward to seeing his movie.
Same. If people cant grow and learn, whats the point of life really. He seemed genuine. I dont want to be naive, but I believe in second chances.
I do think that people can learn from their mistakes and become better. I also think that this particular person reeks of bullshit and has learned only how to become better at saying the right things.
You bring up a good point that you don’t get to be “forgiven “ if you’re full of BS, but my question is, How do you know if someone has really done the work to change or if they are saying it to get out of the s*#^house (I also think you can do the work for both reasons). For me, what he said hit all the right notes, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he means it. Doesn’t mean that a close eye shouldn’t be kept on him if he is directing women or that he won’t be canceled if he does something wrong in the future. To me, it just means that he’s on mile 1 on a long road to redemption. I also hope he realizes that he isn’t forgiven by he said the right thing one time. He needs to walk the walk…every single day….for the rest of his life.
Exactly this. I do believe people can change and grow but the fact that Affleck TO THIS DAY refuses to be honest about what happened or even talk about it without minimizing his own behavior shows that he isn’t actually trying to learn anything. He’s saying all the right things so that people will stop holding hom accountable. And it’s working.
@Bears, I totally agree. This guy has learned absolutely nothing and the problem is mostly women allowing guys like this to continue to lie their way out of real problems they have instead of getting the necessary help needed to actually be better men.
Our society would be a better place if women would stop saying I believe he learned his lesson after a priviledged white man says a few I’m sorry(s).
@Bears I agree, Unfortunately because I like Casey as an actor, but he seems to be stuck in the particularly troublesome category of men who on the one hand can easily point a finger towards other men and say they did wrong, but when faced with their own bullshit are like “me, what? I’m not even that type of guy!” Which is almost a form of gaslighting pretty much…
I’ve known a few men who claimed to be feminists who were really anything but, but try calling them on their stuff and they just denied all if it because it didn’t fit with their own self image.. 🙄
I really like Dax Shepard’s podcast but I purposely am not listening to the current episode with Affleck. Everything he said here made my eyes rolls so hard I now have a slight headache. He’s full of s*it and I won’t give him credit for stating the OBVIOUS and the bare minimum. We need to stop handing out cookies to men for saying things that they SHOULD be saying.
@VV, Thank You. Agree w/ you.
I definitely think he’s learned and grown from that experience. But I also can’t help but ponder, if he wasn’t a white guy and was a POC or a woman, he wouldn’t be given the chance to direct, act in or promote anything with substance ever again. So… must be nice….
He has powerful friends and a powerful brother. That has to help, I would think.
You beat me to it. The discussions about growth + about there being more to people and their stories than their flaws, wrongdoings, questionable/annoying moments, and darkest moments is valid. But it’s an argument that seems to get mostly applied to problematic (for the most part straight) men, especially white ones, and especially xennial, gen x men, and baby boomer men. What about people from other demographics? It seems like for everyone else, those moments are clung to harder and become ammunition. And many of these guys have done just as bad if not worse than the others too. I think part of the issue is that people are grateful for whatever scraps of human decency shown by some men, while for everybody else, more is expected. Some of us even get held accountable for the problematic histories of people around us.
What were the allegations against him? (In terms of specifics). Did he do something directly to women or was he a bystander as a boss? (Obviously, I’m confused after reading his statements here.)
He sounds more articulate than Matt Damon here, so obviously I’m doubly-confused. Even if someone else wrote those words for him, those are some pretty good words (who wrote them? Everyone should hire that person. And why didn’t Matt Damon use that person???)
Allegedly both. The women had claims involving things said and done on set by him and other people and also specific, graphic descriptions of things they claim he did to them in private. The actual court filings are online. One or both of them also gave magazine/newspaper interviews. He denied all allegations. The case settled before any testimony so there are no findings on the allegations.
One woman woke up in the middle of the night with Affleck in her bed touching her, smelling of booze, and almost undressed.
These guys will say anything to make sure they stay famous. That said, they grew up in one culture and are trying to morph to stay relevant in another, even if their motivation is cynical. Both Casey and Ben have problems with alcohol and partying, not exactly great circumstances for developing a genuine outlook about feminism or actual respect for women.
“I was technically the boss.” Dude, you WERE the boss. No technicality about it.
The headline to this piece is ridiculous. Affleck went so far to suggest that his accusers were lying.
Thank you!!! This site claims to be pro-woman and feminist? Bullshit.
Dan Harmon set the bar for sexual harassment apologies when he openly admitted to and owned his terrible behavior on his own podcast.
“I just treated her cruelly, pointedly. Things I would never, ever have done if she had been male.” That’s just a snippet, I highly recommend reading/listening to it.
That type of clear eyed self-awareness helps women know someone has truly learned and grown. Affleck’s “I was quiet because women were so ANGRY and they were mad at ME!!!!!” just shows he is still centering HIS feelings. He is able to state what happened and why it was toxic. But he doesn’t. He just humblebrags about “being the boss.”
I said the same above about Dan Harmon!
The headline is trash.
The fact that he minimizes his involvement to “I guess I was the boss so the environment was a little boorish” only tells me he hasn’t yet addressed his part or owned it.
He was accused if grossly poor behavior towards women, at just one of which involved crawling into someone’s bed and putting his hands on her. But if you read only this, you’d assume it was a couple set parties.
Boy, bye
I guess the bar is on the floor :/
I listened to this whole podcast and honestly Casey wasn’t even the most awful part of it. Dax couldn’t stop swooning all over him and Monica Padman his co-host literally said “the part we are leaving out is that some women lie”. And Dax agreed! I almost fell off my chair when I was listening to that. Even Casey was smart enough to roll that back and say that it doesn’t help to call sexual assault survivors liars. I am truly stunned by her comment and Dax’s whole attitude during the whole thing. I
According to Pajiba, here is the quote from Monica Padman.
“Well, of all the things that have been popping into my head, and I’ll get in trouble for saying this, but there is a component to this whole conversation that we don’t like addressing but sometimes women aren’t telling the truth … I’m a woman, and I’ve lied. We’re capable of doing that. And sometimes that’s missing in these conversations … it’s almost anti-feminist to say that women don’t lie.”
Yeah, I’ve been trying to tell you all about Shepard and Bell (and their nanny Padman) for years. It’s time to get real with the things they say and the things they do. It’s time to hold them accountable.
Agreed. I have to admit that I have glossed over some of their antics while listening to the show but this threw me over the edge. I’m done with them.
He is not being truthful. ‘I’m scared of #metoo and don’t want to talk about it because these are the values I was raised with’. Does that make sense to anyone?
Also the twisted way he asks his rhetorical questions at the beginning: ‘Who would not be supportive of this movement? Are there really people out there who think like this?’ This sounds ingenuous.
He doesnt take any responsibilities about what happened. How are you gonna learn from past mistakes if you didn’t even consider it as mistakes? He stays quiet because he knows it will come back at him. I won’t give him the credit for saying the right thing. That is PR team is for. He gets a good PR team who wrote a statement with ‘humanity’
Casey Release your victims from their NDAs and someone might believe you. Otherwise you are a little rat face with very good connections.