Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo/sexual misconduct scandals

Director Bryan Singer has denied sexual assault allegations after being sued for allegedly sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy. The news comes just days after he was fired from his role as director of the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody.

Guardian: https://www.google.ie/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/08/bryan-singer-denies-sexually-assaulting-17-year-old-boy-at-yacht-party-in-2003

Well, that's that then.

Sad Professor

The Guardian is extremely selective in what parts of the Deadline report it uses.

http://deadline.com/2017/12/bryan-singer-sued-sexual-assault-underage-boy-yacht-2003-1202222501/

I don't know, there's a lot of smoke around Singer, but this story stinks. His previous accuser, Egan, was a conman. Same lawyer behind this case. The description of Singer threatening the accused seems lifted from the Weinstein allegations. Whatever truth there is to this, it is obviously someone looking for money.

There's undoubtedly more to come out about Singer, but what's come out so far is pretty weak. The most damning evidence against him remains the various online photos of him and the kind of company (Goddard etc) he used to keep.

Oh yea, but it's likely why Singer was fired ultimately. They likely used his absence as cover, but I'm sure an allegation like this would have been what pushed their hand.

The Black Oil

Salma Hayek's piece was very powerful.

By the sounds of it, Matt Damon will be doing an apology tour tomorrow.

darkdubh

Deleted User wrote: »

Has this ever happened before? Where a star was totally written out of a movie just as it was about to be released?

It happened to Gary Glitter in the Spice Girls movie when he was caught with child porn on his laptop but that was a small cameo, his scene was reshot with Noddy Holder.

JP Liz V1

The Black Oil wrote: »

Salma Hayek's piece was very powerful.

By the sounds of it, Matt Damon will be doing an apology tour tomorrow.

What did Matt do

Sad Professor

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

What did Matt do

He suggested that there's a "spectrum of behaviour" and there's a difference between rapists and guys who pat women on the bum.

JP Liz V1

Sad Professor wrote: »

He suggested that there's a "spectrum of behaviour" and there's a difference between rapists and guys who pat women on the bum.

I suppose he does have a point but might have been better keeping schtum

Synode

Sad Professor wrote: »

He suggested that there's a "spectrum of behaviour" and there's a difference between rapists and guys who pat women on the bum.

Ah here, what's wrong with that statement?

Sad Professor

Synode wrote: »

Ah here, what's wrong with that statement?

I'm not too sure tbh, but people on Twitter are pretty outraged about it.

JP Liz V1

Sad Professor wrote: »

I'm not too sure tbh, but people on Twitter are pretty outraged about it.

I am just guessing but he is male, friend of Ben Affleck and worked with Weinstein, I think if a female made a similar statement there would be less outrage

Matt's ex Minnie Driver - “There are so many men I love who do NOT frame the differentiation between sexual misconduct, assault and rape as an excuse or worse – our problem,”

Outlaw Pete

There was nothing at all wrong with what he said. In fact he made many comments which I feel needed to be said and have largely gone unsaid.

Here's the full interview the quote was taken from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C9kRKQqG5g

Sad Professor

I think any celebrity in the current environment would be wise to keep their mouth shut and their head down, hire a good pr team etc. Their lives and careers are on the line. Trying to talk nuance to a mob is foolish in the extreme.

Agent Coulson

Peter Jackson has said that he blacklisted Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino under pressure of Weinstein.

https://twitter.com/MiraSorvino/status/941689525960556544

Tony EH

Why is Damon getting piloried in some quarters for that interview?

I felt he was open, frank and honest. Also, he said nothing controversial at all.

What a crazy world we live in at the moment.

darkdubh

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

I am just guessing but he is male, friend of Ben Affleck and worked with Weinstein, I think if a female made a similar statement there would be less outrage

Matt's ex Minnie Driver - “There are so many men I love who do NOT frame the differentiation between sexual misconduct, assault and rape as an excuse or worse – our problem,”

Didn't he and Russel Crowe kill the Weinstein story from coming out a decade ago?

Sad Professor

darkdubh wrote: »

Didn't he and Russel Crowe kill the Weinstein story from coming out a decade ago?

A journalist from The Wrap implied that Weinstein used Crowe and Damon to kill a longer version of a story she was writing for the NYT about the head of Miramax Italy (not Weinstein). Damon denied it, said Weinstein asked him to call her, which he did, but it was just to "vouch" for this Italian guy based on his own experiences with him. Damon said he didn't know what the story was about and she didn't tell him. She agreed with his account of what happened and that was it. The then editors of the NYT said they knew nothing about it.

Sad Professor

Sad Professor wrote: »

He suggested that there's a "spectrum of behaviour" and there's a difference between rapists and guys who pat women on the bum.

Of course there is. A man shouldn't pat a woman on the arse in a professional setting, but calling them a rapist is just ludicrous. If anything, it does a disservice to people who were actually raped and waters down what happened to them.

Ipso

Thank god I'm not twitter.
https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2017/1219/928448-matt-damon-mocked-for-tone-deaf-sexual-abuse-comments/

Sad Professor

I detest this tone policing crap, but I think as Liz said, the issue here is that he's Matt Damon, friend of Casey Affleck, and former Weinstein associate. Basically anything that comes out of his mouth has the potential to be twisted and distorted.

Tony EH

Can people not genuinely understand what he was saying in that interview?

I mean really?

It's just astonishing.

Sad Professor

Tony EH wrote: »

Can people not genuinely understand what he was saying in that interview?

I mean really?

It's just astonishing.

I firmly believe most people agree with Damon but know this isn't the time to be saying it. Or at least that it needs to come from someone else.

Tony EH

Tony EH wrote: »

Can people not genuinely understand what he was saying in that interview?

I mean really?

It's just astonishing.

The kind of people that brigade on Twitter and other places with torches and pitchforks couldn't give a toss. Any reason to get offended is good enough.

Fysh

Sad Professor wrote: »

I firmly believe most people agree with Damon but know this isn't the time to be saying it. Or at least that it needs to come from someone else.

It would probably help if it was coming from someone else alright. Matt Damon is also the guy who said a while ago that diversity behind the camera isn't an issue, only to then have to walk those remarks back. EDIT: I'm not saying those previous remarks have bearing on what he's saying now, more that they establish that he has at least once before made public statements where he has seemingly been blind to the idea that his perspective might not be universal, and that he might therefore have an incomplete understanding of certain issues...

pixelburp

Tony EH wrote: »

Can people not genuinely understand what he was saying in that interview?

I mean really?

It's just astonishing.

Plenty understand what he's saying, it's the messenger that's the problem here rather than the message. Damons associations are spotty as it is, tainting the credulity of any pontification, and honestly I don't think the industry right now needs a man explain the finer subtleties of sexual harrassment.

Tony EH

Nobody is criticising his associations though. They're criticising his words, which are perfectly fine contributions to the conversation.

Sad Professor

I think this is mostly about power. Like Clooney, Streep, etc Damon is sorta a spokesperson for liberal Hollywood, which is a not a good position to be in right now. Him and his buddies are about to be eaten by the radical liberal/progressive crowd. It doesn't matter if what he's saying is true, Damon and his friends have no credibility.

The Black Oil

Ugh.

https://twitter.com/AP/status/949362705495920643

The Nal

Sad Professor wrote: »

Hell, Peter Jackson re-wrote and re-shot parts of LOTR because of stuff he read in the comment section of Ain't It Cool News! lol.

What an enabler Jackson is!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Knowles#Sexual_assault_allegations

The Nal

The Nal wrote: »

What an enabler Jackson is!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Knowles#Sexual_assault_allegations

Cause Peter Jackson was no doubt aware of that and actively helping cover it up.

The worst thing to happen with the recent outrage in Hollywood is the manner in which people are attacking other people for not being aware of it. Do you think that people were confiding in Jackson about what Knowles was doing?