'I knew he was a womanizer... But this level of criminal sexual predation is not something that I ever thought was going on,' says Damon of the disgraced movie mogul.
- Oct 24, 2017
AceShowbiz - Matt Damon and George Clooney spoke up about Harvey Weinstein scandal. The two, who worked together on upcoming film "Suburbicon" which Clooney directed and Damon stars in, sat down with ABC's Michael Strahan to talk about what they knew about Weinstein's alleged history of sexual harassment.
"You had to spend about five minutes with him to know that he was a bully, he was intimidating - that was his legend," said Damon, who first worked with Weinstein on "Good Will Hunting" before doing five films in "quick succession" with him after that, about the former TWC exec. "When people say everybody knew, yeah I knew he was an asshole. He was proud of that," he added.
While he knew that Weinstein was a womanizer, he claimed that he didn't know Weinstein was a sexual predator. "I knew he was a womanizer. I wouldn't want to be married to the guy, but it's not my business," Damon said. "But this level of criminal sexual predation is not something that I ever thought was going on."
Damon, however, knew about the incident involving Gwyneth Paltrow. The "Iron Man" actress previously accused Weinstein of inviting her to his hotel suite at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for a business meeting, during which he placed his hands on the then 22-year-old actress and invited her into his room for massages.
Paltrow said she turned down his advances and told her then-boyfriend Brad Pitt about the incident. Pitt reportedly later confronted Weinstein about it and told him not to touch her again.
Damon said on "Good Morning America", "I knew the story about Gwyneth from Ben [Affleck] because he was with her after Brad. So, I knew that story. But I was working with Gwyneth with Harvey on '[The Talented Mr.] Ripley'. I never talked to Gwyneth about it. Ben told me. But I knew they had come to whatever agreement or understanding that they had come to. She had handled it. She was the first lady of Miramax and he treated her incredibly respectfully-always."
Clooney weighed in, saying that Weinstein told him about "women that he'd had affairs with." Clooney added, "I didn't necessarily believe him quite honestly, because to believe him would be to believe the worst of some actresses who were friends of mine."
Now that he knows the truth behind what Weinstein described as an "affair," Clooney said, "The idea that this predator - this assaulter - was out there silencing women like that ... it's beyond infuriating."
Noting that his wife Amal Clooney has also been subject to harassment in her line of work, Clooney called for a change and encouraged women to come forward. "There has to be a comeuppance for all of this. All of the people who were part of that chain. And then, we have to make it safe for people to feel that they can talk about it," he said.
Other actresses who have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment include Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan, Angelina Jolie, Cara Delevingne, Lea Seydoux, Lupita Nyong'o and Lena Headey.
