Matt Damon and George Clooney speak out on Weinstein scandal

“Harvey would talk to me about women he’d had affairs with. I didn’t necessarily believe him, quite honestly, because to believe them would be to believe the worst of some actresses who were friends of mine,” says George Clooney as the clip begins, in his signature mellow self.

“I knew he was an a**hole; he was proud of that,” says a more riled Matt Damon in the next shot, amidst heavy breathing and in a much louder voice.

This sets the tone for the interview in which these two Hollywood mega stars would tell ABC Network’s Night Line host Michael Strahan of how they had no knowledge of the conduct of the man who helped launch their careers. The two were talking to the host about their new movie Suburbicon which Clooney directs, and Damon stars in.

‘HE WAS INTIMIDATING’
Clooney first starred in a production for Weinstein in 1996 in From Dusk Till Dawn, while Damon worked with Weinstein’s Miramax for Good Will Hunting which he and Ben Affleck had written the screenplay for. Matt Damon said that you would “have to spend five minutes with him to know that he was a bully; he was intimidating.”

Damon said Weinstein’s legend at the peak of his career was whether anyone who sought him could survive a meeting with him or stand up for themselves before him. Miramax in the 90s was the place to work in if you wanted to create good movies. He however said the “level of criminal, sexual predation” allegations that are now coming the fore against the producer was not something that he ever thought was going on.

He however said he had known of Weinstein’s incident with Gwyneth Paltrow, where he had asked her to give him a massage in his hotel suite and she refused, because Affleck had told him when Damon and Paltrow were working together on The Talented Mr Ripley in 1999. At the time she was dating Brad Pitt who had then threatened Weinstein of “consequences” if he harassed his then girlfriend. Damon never talked to Paltow about the incident, he said.

“I knew they had come to whatever agreement or understanding that they had come to… And she was the first lady of Miramax and he treated her incredibly respectfully always,” said Damon.

‘BEYOND INFURIATING’

Clooney said he wanted to know all about “this predator, this assaulter” who was out there silencing women all along, terming it as beyond infuriating.

Damon said he never knew about the criminality because Weinstein would do these acts in private. He also apologised if he had missed sensing something when Weinstein did some of the assaults at a function he was present at.

The actors expressed that it is important to first make it safe for people to come out and speak about their assault ordeals and know that the perpetrators would be outed, have their (work) license taken away from them and then prosecuted.

They also expressed on the importance of parents giving their children a strong sense of self-esteem to make right decisions when they are by themselves and to protect them in such scenarios.

Weinstein’s alleged behaviour was exposed in a detonative report in the New York Times investigation by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey revealed sexual harassment allegations and a lot o A-list actresses have come out claiming the same either from him or other producers.

Weinstein was fired from his own company after the allegations became public ad potential buyers are drawing closer, ready to purchase it should that be available. The hashtag #MeToo then created a forum where people could talk about sexual harassment experiences, as even male individuals, including actor Terry Crews, talk about their personal encounters with it.

Locally, the hashtag has also been used by people, both celebrities and every-day-citizens, to show just how rampant sexual harassment and abuse is.

From strangers to even family members, from isolated alley ways to inside public transportation in broad daylight, the tales are sad and horrifying of how young children to the elderly are go around fearing that any time a predator might pounce on them or touch them inappropriately at the slightest window of opportunity they get.

The responses to most of these stories are also not very encouraging with the blame being shifted to the victims on claims inappropriate dressing or being too suggestive in their mannerism, or in Cyprian Nyakundi’s response to Adele Anyango’s story claiming they are not attractive enough to have gone through what they claim.

Like Matt Damon and Clooney said, parents should be having conversations with their children on not only how to value or protect themselves, but also how to respect and value others around them.