Actor Casey Affleck’s Oscar win Sunday night has done little to stem the tide of outrage over the allegations of sexual harassment that have dogged him for years. In fact, his feminist detractors are now demanding that more so than ever, he be shunned rather than celebrated.
Affleck is also courting a new controversy after he kissed a female entertainment reporter on the cheek prior to the Oscar ceremony — a kiss his critics called sexist and demeaning to women.
In the wake of Affleck’s win, numerous articles have cropped up to condemn the actor—as well as the Academy. Writing for Elle, progressive writer Sady Doyle said that men accused of having abusive pasts deserve nothing but contempt—and tied Affleck’s continued celebrity to the election of Donald Trump.
“By endlessly forgiving abusive men, we tell women that the abuse they suffer is less important than some guy’s right to get his point of view across,” wrote Doyle. “White men in entertainment can get away with anything. That one, soul-deadening lesson has been drilled into women’s heads recently.”
Feminist site Bustle’s Suzannah Weiss echoed Doyle’s remarks, drawing upon her own experiences as a survivor of sexual assault to condemn the actor. She argued that seeing Affleck celebrated was like being told she was never raped.
Outraged feminists had no shortage of anger and disparagement towards Affleck, and tweets condemning the actor attained thousands of retweets and likes.
Ben Affleck’s younger brother no doubt ranks among Hollywood’s most hated men, alongside Mel Gibson, who outraged film critics when it was revealed that he was in the running to direct Suicide Squad 2. The allegations against Affleck—which were made between 2008 and 2009—hounded the actor in the days leading up to the Oscars (the apparently not enough to cost him the trophy). The case against him was settled out of court, and Affleck himself has vehemently, and repeatedly denied the events
Speaking to The New York Times in November, Affleck said that the settlements were done to the satisfaction of every party, and that he had moved past the event. However, some people—especially those not part of the story—have used the controversy to propel themselves to fame.
Constance Wu, a little-known actress who was in the TV series Fresh off the Boat, reignited outrage over Casey Affleck’s success as an actor when she wrote a series of Tweets earlier this year. In her posts, Wu expressed her outrage at Affleck’s continued popularity and defamed the actor.
“Boys! BUY ur [sic] way out of trouble by settling out of court!” Wu tweeted. “Just do a good acting job, thats [sic] all that matters! bc [sic] Art isn’t about humanity, right?”
“I’ve been counseled not to talk about this for career’s sake. F my career then, I’m a woman & human first. That’s what my craft is built on.”
Last night, Wu leveraged upon her continued fame by comparing Affleck’s Oscar win to Trump’s.
At this point, nothing Casey Affleck says or does will do anything to change anyone’s opinion of him. He said to Variety:
“People say whatever they want. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how you respond… I guess people think if you’re well-known, it’s perfectly fine to say anything you want. I don’t know why that is. But it shouldn’t be, because everybody has families and lives.”
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.