Damon is sorry
Matt Damon says the backlash for his comments on sexual misconduct was very helpful. A few weeks ago, Damon said that there were varying degrees of misconduct and the punishment should reflect that. But he was criticised by some. On Tuesday, Damon said he “doesn’t want to further anybody’s pain.” And that he is sorry. Woody Allen. Dylan Farrow. Rebecca Hall. Ellen Page. Timothee Chalamet. Financial support for Allen has not previously waned in part because of the eagerness many stars have for working with a cinematic legend. But fielding a starry cast may prove increasingly difficult for Allen in a movie industry in the middle of a “Me Too” reckoning.
“If I had known then what I know now, I would not have acted in the film,” Greta Gerwig, who co-starred in Allen’s 2012 comedy, To Rome With Love, told The New York Times last week. “I have not worked for him again, and I will not work for him again. Dylan Farrow’s two different pieces made me realise that I increased another woman’s pain, and I was heart-broken by that realisation.”
PROBE IS ON
Dylan Farrow, Allen’s adopted daughter, has said Allen molested her in an attic in 1992 when she was seven. Allen, who has long denied the allegations, was investigated for the incident but not charged.
The announcement by Chalamet, a favourite Oscar contender for best actor this year, followed a similar one Friday by his co-star Hall. She said she was donating her salary from the film to Time’s Up, the recently formed initiative to combat gender inequality in the entertainment industry. “It’s a small gesture and not one intended as close to compensation,” Hall wrote on Instagram.
Some have continued to publicly support Allen, though, including Alec Baldwin.
“Woody Allen was investigated forensically by two states [New York and Connecticut ] and no charges were filed,” Baldwin said on Tuesday on Twitter. “The renunciation of him and his work, no doubt, has some purpose. But it’s unfair and sad to me. I worked with Woody Allen three times and it was one of the privileges of my career.” —AP