Matt Damon is making waves with controversial comments about the recent sexual harassment scandals in Hollywood and Washington.
The Downsizing actor argued in an appearance on Popcorn with Peter Travers there should be varying levels of repercussions for the powerful men who've recently been accused of preying on others.
For example, Damon draws a distinction between Harvey Weinstein's decades of alleged abuse of stars like Paz de la Huerta, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Rose McGowan, Cara Delevingne and Lupita Nyong'o, and the groping accusation that led to the resignation of US senator Al Franken last week.
(Ben Affleck, producer Harvey Weinstein and Matt Damon)
"I think it's wonderful that women are feeling empowered to tell their stories, and it's totally necessary," he said. "I do believe there's a spectrum of behaviour… There's a difference between patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right?
"Both of those behaviours need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn't be conflated."
The actor continued: "When you see Al Franken taking a picture putting his hands on that woman's flak jacket and mugging for the camera… that is just like a terrible joke, and it's not funny. It's wrong, and he shouldn't have done that.
"But when you talk about Harvey and what he's accused of, there are no pictures of that. He knew he was up to no good. There's no witnesses. There's no pictures. There's no braggadocio. That stuff happened secretly, because it was criminal and he knew it. So they don't belong in the same category."
This stance has certainly ruffled feathers, with Jezebel, Splinter and Vulture of the alternative press and many prominent social media figures criticising him for speaking irresponsibly about the victims of abuse.
Damon previously acknowledged knowing about Good Will Hunting producer Harvey Weinstein's alleged harassment of Gwyneth Paltrow more than a decade ago, but maintains that he was not aware of the scope of the producer's alleged misconduct in the industry as a whole. Weinstein continues to deny ever committing "sexual assault".
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