Casey Affleck won The Academy Award for best actor for his acting performance in Manchester by the Sea, but not everyone was happy to see the actor win the prize.
Affleck’s criticism stems from a 2010 sexual harassment lawsuit against the star that was filed by two women who worked with the filmmaker on the mockumentary I’m Still Here. Affleck settled the case out of court.
Many people on Twitter referenced the allegations after Affleck won his Oscar. One of the people that criticized Affleck was none other than ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat actress Constance Wu.
Here’s a thing I wrote during an convo w/ @PeterShinkoda about how Casey Affleck’s win will be a nod to Trump’s. pic.twitter.com/FjrRsniS9d
— Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) January 24, 2017
Affleck opened up about the allegations to the Boston Globe about the backlash. He said neither said can discuss the details of what occurred. However, Affleck said, “I believe that any kind of mistreatment of anyone for any reason is unacceptable and abhorrent, and everyone deserves to be treated with respect in the workplace and anywhere else.”
Regarding the backlash, Affleck said, “There’s really nothing I can do about it. Other than live my life the way I know I live it and speak to what my own values are and how I try to live by them all the time.”
On his Oscar win, Casey Affleck told the Globe, “I don’t know what [the Oscar] means going forward. I don’t plan on changing anything about what I’ve done up to this point. Every once in a while a part of Manchester by the Sea comes along and you get the chance to do it and you just hope, at that moment, you’re ready.”
In 2010, while filming I’m Still Here starring Joaquin Phoenix, the movie’s cinematographer Magdalena Gorka alleged that after a long night of filming, Affleck climbed into bed with her but, became upset after she asked him to leave. Gorka also claimed that during filming, Affleck and others joked about their sexual exploits and suggested she have sex with one of the movie’s camera assistants.
Also, producer Amanda White accused Affleck of sexual harassment. According to reports, Affleck told another crew member to show his penis to her. White also alleged that Affleck asked her to stay in his hotel room and “grabbed her” when she said no. Affleck would later settle out of court paying the producer and the cinematographer $2 million each.