Longtime Harvey Weinstein friend and film partner Ben Affleck has issued a statement on the allegations of sexual assault and harassment against the executive, saying they “made me sick.”
Affleck, who worked with the Miramax co-founder on “Good Will Hunting,” shared a message on social media Tuesday afternoon after the New Yorker published additional disturbing details regarding Weinstein’s offenses against women ― including accusations of rape. The report came just days after a New York Times’ expose alleged Weinstein had been paying off sexual harassment accusers for nearly 30 years.
After initial silence from Hollywood, stars have begun speaking out to condemn Weinstein as reports of misbehavior continue to build up. Affleck’s “Good Will Hunting” co-star and Weinstein friend Matt Damon spoke out on Tuesday against Weinstein, as well.
“If there was ever an event that I was at and Harvey was doing this kind of thing and I didn’t see it, then I am so deeply sorry, because I would have stopped it,” Damon said to Deadline.
Damon was named in a piece by TheWrap founder Sharon Waxman, who claimed that, while she was working for The New York Times, the publication scrapped a 2004 piece on Weinstein’s sexual misconduct due in part to a phone call from Damon.
“The story I reported never ran,” she wrote. “After intense pressure from Weinstein, which included having Matt Damon and Russell Crowe call me directly to vouch for [Miramax executive Fabrizio] Lombardo and unknown discussions well above my head at the Times, the story was gutted.”
Damon told Deadline he “never” saw such behavior from Weinstein. He also denied trying to kill Waxman’s 2004 story, saying he didn’t know the context. (The New York Times also denied caving to any external pressures.)
“She called us to apologize about this thing coming out, and she claimed she was in her car with her kids when I talked to her. It was a 30 second conversation,” he told Deadline. “For the record, I would never, ever, ever try to kill a story like that. I just wouldn’t do that. It’s not something I would do, for anybody.”
The responses come after Rose McGowan called out Affleck and Damon on Twitter for their silence. According to The New York Times, the actress took a $100,000 settlement from the producer in 1997 as one of Weinstein’s alleged victims.
On Tuesday, McGowan took issue with Affleck’s response.
This article has been updated to include Matt Damon’s response to the Weinstein allegations and Rose McGowan’s follow-up tweets.
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