Casey Affleck was the subject of an online backlash when he won the Best Actor accolade at the Oscars over the weekend, and the ‘Manchester By The Sea’ star has now responded his critics.
Throughout awards season, there was plenty of talk about sexual harassment claims that were made against the actor back in 2010, which he vehemently denied at the time.
The case was eventually settled outside of court for an undisclosed amount.
When he then triumphed at Sunday’s (26 February) ceremony, Brie Larson - who presented him with the prize - did not applaud the win, while another A-list attendee appeared to pretend to be asleep during his speech.
Numerous film fans also took to Twitter to suggest that Casey should not have won the prize, and in his first interview since winning, he has addressed the controversy.
The Boston Globe writes that the actor “paused and sighed heavily” when their reporter asked what he thought of the backlash.
Casey then explained both parties are not allowed to talk about the case, before stating: “I believe that any kind of mistreatment of anyone for any reason is unacceptable and abhorrent, and everyone deserves to be treated with respect in the workplace and anywhere else.
The accusations themselves came from two women, who worked with Casey on the Joaquin Phoenix film ‘I’m Still Here’.
Their lawsuits cited numerous alleged incidents - all of which Casey denied took place - including one in which he climbed into bed with the woman while she was asleep.
Speaking at the time, the actor stated his intentions to countersue his two former colleagues, though he never did.
