- Matt Damon says the men not involved in sexual misconduct in Hollywood aren't being talked about enough.
- He says most people he knows "don't do that."
- Damon said that if he found he was on a project with people who had been accused of misconduct, he would handle it on a "case-by-case" basis.
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Matt Damon says we aren't talking enough about all the men in Hollywood who aren't sexual predators
Matt Damon says the sexual-harassment allegations flooding Hollywood is a watershed moment but that men who don't do that aren't getting enough credit.
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Matt Damon thinks the men in Hollywood who aren't sexual predators should be talked about more.
The flood of sexual-misconduct allegations since The New York Times and The New Yorker published bombshell reports in October detailing those against the producer Harvey Weinstein have included some of the biggest names in entertainment, media, and politics.
But Damon says not all the men in Hollywood are despicable.
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"We're in this watershed moment, and it's great, but I think one thing that's not being talked about is there are a whole s---load of guys — the preponderance of men I've worked with — who don't do this kind of thing and whose lives aren't going to be affected," Damon told Business Insider while promoting his new movie, "Downsizing," opening in theaters Friday.
"If I have to sign a sexual-harassment thing, I don't care, I'll sign it," he said. "I would have signed it before. I don't do that, and most of the people I know don't do that."
Damon has recently been under fire for comments he made about sexual misconduct in Hollywood. Late last week, in an interview for ABC News' "Popcorn with Peter Travers," Damon told the Rolling Stone critic that there was a "spectrum of behavior" to consider.
"There's a difference between, you know, patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right?" Damon said. "Both of those behaviors need to be confronted and eradicated, without question, but they shouldn't be conflated, right?"
I don#emo#t just speak for myse... @ Minnie Driver
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Damon said the allegations against Al Franken, the Minnesota senator who recently announced his resignation after eight women accused him of groping or forcibly kissing them, weren't in the "same category" as those against Weinstein, which range from harassment to rape.
Damon's comments drew criticism, including from Minnie Driver, his "Good Will Hunting" costar and ex-girlfriend, and Alyssa Milano, who helped launch the recent #MeToo social-media movement encouraging women to come forward with their stories of sexual misconduct.
Business Insider also asked Damon whether the current climate in Hollywood had made him more conscious of the people he'd work with on future projects. Would he back out of a movie if an actor, director, or producer had been accused of sexual misconduct?
"That always went into my thinking," Damon said. "I mean, I wouldn't want to work with somebody who — life's too short for that. But the question of if somebody had allegations against them, you know, it would be a case-by-case basis. You go, 'What's the story here?'"
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