After a brief hibernation, Matt Damon has resurfaced to reveal his regret about a number of comments he made to the press in the early moments of #MeToo, which kicked off when a number of women came forward to accuse producer Harvey Weinstein of harassment and assault. The movement has since led to a public reckoning for men accused of similar actions all across the industry and beyond. Damon previously expressed hesitation about the movement because there's a "spectrum" of behaviour, and that we're not focusing enough on the men who don't commit these alleged assaults.
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"There’s a difference between patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right?" he told ABC’s Popcorn With Peter Travers. "Both of those behaviours need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn’t be conflated."
The backlash was quick and, luckily, he listened — something he admits he should have done in the first place.
"I really wish I’d listened a lot more before I weighed in on this,” Damon told Kathie Lee Gifford on the Today show Tuesday morning when asked about the controversy. "Ultimately what it is for me is that I don’t want to further anybody’s pain. With anything that I do or say, so for that I’m really sorry."
The conversation turned to Time's Up, the movement and legal fund created to combat harassment and misconduct in all industries created by prominent Hollywood women.
"A lot of those women are my dear friends and I love them and respect them and support what they’re doing and want to be a part of that change and want to go along for the ride, but I should get in the back seat and close my mouth for a while," he added.
“A lot of those women are my dear friends and I love them and respect them and support what they’re doing and want to be a part of that change ... But I should get in the back seat and close my mouth for a while.”
— Kathie Lee and Hoda (@klgandhoda) January 16, 2018
Matt Damon on the #TimesUp movement. pic.twitter.com/jNjiIjuhVl
This kind of change is exactly what the movement is all about. We can't be expected to have all the answers right away, we can only ask that those who don't take the time to listen, and not, say, keep tweeting through it despite repeated criticism...
Woody Allen was investigated forensically by two states (NY and CT) and no charges were filed. The renunciation of him and his work, no doubt, has some purpose. But it’s unfair and sad to me. I worked w WA 3 times and it was one of the privileges of my career.
— ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) January 16, 2018
Anyways! All this is to say: Matt Damon, this is a good response. If you could pass it along to your hundreds of male peers for us, that would be great.
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Refinery29 has reached out to Damon for comment.