December 2017 will probably be a month to forget for Matt Damon. His new film, Downsizing, is getting (at best) mixed reviews from critics, his previous film Suburbicon got slammed by critics and failed at the box office, and now he’s getting slammed by women around the world for his comments on sexual abuse in Hollywood.
During an interview with ABC News last week, Damon told Peter Travers…
“There’s a difference between, you know, patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right? Both of those behaviors need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn’t be conflated, right?”
He also defended Louis C.K. during his interview, and that did not sit well with a lot of people. Actress Minnie Driver, who dated Damon in the late 1990s, spoke to The Guardian recently and slammed Damon for his comments.
“I’ve realized that most men, good men, the men that I love, there is a cut-off in their ability to understand. They simply cannot understand what abuse is like on a daily level. I honestly think that until we get on the same page, you can’t tell a woman about their abuse. A man cannot do that. No one can. It is so individual and so personal, it’s galling when a powerful man steps up and starts dictating the terms, whether he intends it or not.”
And that’s a pretty fair response. I don’t think what Damon said was particularly harsh or insensitive, but it’s like…why? Why did he even comment on it? It’s time we sit back as men and just listen for a bit. Take some notes and try to learn.