Why was Damon cut from ‘Ocean’s 8’?
“Ocean’s 8,” the reboot of the “Ocean’s 11” franchise that premiered last weekend, is notable for a number of things: Its glorious all-female cast, its fashionable Met Gala heist location, its stellar box office and its celebrity cameos, including appearances by members of the original “Ocean’s” heist team.
“Ocean’s 8” stars Sandra Bullock as con artist Debbie Ocean, sister of George Clooney’s Danny Ocean.
Back in February, Matt Damon, 47, announced that he would reprise his role as Linus Caldwell from the original films, according to Collider. But Damon’s scenes were cut from the film, The Hollywood Reporter said.
The publication also said that Carl Reiner’s return as the cantankerous Saul Bloom also was cut from the final edit.
But Damon’s omission stands out because news of his cameo in the film was met with protests over his controversial, “tone-deaf” comments about the #MeToo movement and his longtime professional association with Harvey Weinstein.
A petition that garnered more than 28,000 signatures called for Damon’s removal from a film that was supposed to be, the petition wording said, “empowering” for women by spotlighting the talents of a “tremendous female cast” and the “savvy and prowess” of its female characters. According to the petition, titled “Sexual Harassment Isn’t a Joke,” Damon “not only ignored but enabled his friend Harvey Weinstein’s inappropriate behavior.”
Warner Bros. never acknowledged the petition or the controversy, and director Gary Ross denied that either had anything to do with Damon’s omission from the final cut.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ross spoke generally about the selection of cameos and said they were only used to further the story. “(Picking the cameos) is an eclectic process of: How does it fit in the story and how is the narrative unfolding?” Ross told the publication.