Last week, Matt Damon caused another little PR crisis for himself by dropping a jumble of insensitive comments about Hollywood's ongoing sexual misconduct problem. A number of people spoke out against his tone-deaf comments, including his Good Will Hunting co-star Minnie Driver.
Among his many comments, including the suggestion that he'd defend his friends if they were accused of sexual misconduct, Damon said, "I do believe that there's a spectrum of behaviour, right? And we're going to have to figure — you know, there's a difference between, you know, patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right?"
When the Damon story first broke, Driver took to Twitter, where she expressed her bafflement at Damon's commentary, adding that his language made him part of the problem:
Expanding on her comments, Driver has since spoken with the Guardian. She first explained why she chose to speak out on Twitter, saying, "I felt I desperately needed to say something. I've realised 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."
She added that now is not the time for men to speak out about women's experiences.
"I honestly think that until we get on the same page, you can't tell a woman about their abuse," she said. "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."
Read Driver's full interview here.
Among his many comments, including the suggestion that he'd defend his friends if they were accused of sexual misconduct, Damon said, "I do believe that there's a spectrum of behaviour, right? And we're going to have to figure — you know, there's a difference between, you know, patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right?"
When the Damon story first broke, Driver took to Twitter, where she expressed her bafflement at Damon's commentary, adding that his language made him part of the problem:
Gosh it's so *interesting how men with all these opinions about women's differentiation between sexual misconduct, assault and rape reveal themselves to be utterly tone deaf and as a result, systemically part of the problem( *profoundly unsurprising)
— Minnie Driver (@driverminnie) December 15, 2017
Expanding on her comments, Driver has since spoken with the Guardian. She first explained why she chose to speak out on Twitter, saying, "I felt I desperately needed to say something. I've realised 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."
She added that now is not the time for men to speak out about women's experiences.
"I honestly think that until we get on the same page, you can't tell a woman about their abuse," she said. "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."
Read Driver's full interview here.
