It was a case of history repeated at the Oscars on Monday when Brie Larson had to present Casey Affleck with his second major award for the season.
The actress was stony-faced as she handed Affleck his Best Actor gong for his performance in Manchester By The Sea.
In the weeks leading up to the ceremony, the 41-year-old was dogged by allegations he sexually harassed two women he worked with while directing I'm Still Here, which led to a lawsuit being filed against him in 2010.
It was later settled out of court.
While his Golden Globes win largely passed unnoticed, the moment his name appeared on the Oscars envelope he was slammed on social media, while some in the audience refused to applaud him.
Boys! BUY ur way out of trouble by settling out of court!Just do a good acting job,thats all that matters!bc Art isn't about humanity,right?
— Constance Wu (@ConstanceWu) January 24, 2017
Chrissy Teigen went so far as to feign sleep for the duration of his acceptance speech.
Look at Chrissy Teigen back there pretending to sleep through Casey Affleck’s acceptance speech pic.twitter.com/nM7UgQ6Rl9
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) February 27, 2017
On Tuesday, Affleck addressed the controversy for the first time in an interview with the Boston Globe, although he did note both sides have been barred from commenting explicitly on the matter.
He also condemned his detractors, saying they didn't know the full story.
"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," he told the publication.
Listen: This year's Oscars ceremony was the most boring in history... until it wasn't (post continues after audio).
"There's really nothing I can do about it. Other than live my life the way I know I live it and to speak to what my own values are and how I try to live by them all the time."
Awards tradition dictates that the winner of the women's acting award from the previous year presents to the male winner the next.
Hence, the task has fallen twice now to Larson, who won several accolades for playing a sexual assault victim in the critically-acclaimed Room in 2016.
The 27-year-old has since become an outspoken advocate for sexual assault survivors, and notably hugged each and every one who took part in Lady Gaga's Oscars performance last year.
Then best actress fave Brie Larson gets up, hugs each, every one. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/OI3cFZaLtl
— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) February 29, 2016
It's fitting, then, that she refused to clap for Affleck — a man who allegedly verbally and sexually harassed two women, cinematographer Magdalena Gorka and producer Amanda White.
Gorka described her time working with Affleck as the "most traumatising of her career".
Top Comments
Gosh, what a surprise! A man accused of sexual assault denies it. Says we don't know the full story. How unexpected.
This is no different than the Karl Stefanovic thing. The wife is automatically seen as the victim - wouldn't those that have been attacking Karl get a shock if it turns out it was exactly the opposite way around and Cassandra was the bad one? It is all attack the man and make ASSumptions about him. I feel sick saying this next sentence. But I am really beginning to see where Men's Rights groups are coming from now.
Lastly, what victim would settle out of court? Surely JUSTICE would be the issue, not receiving money? Sorry, I side-eye anyone who accepts hush-money. If it were me, I'd want my abuser to go to court and be punished legally. Not just for me, but for other women. So no other woman would go through what I went through. If you accept money out of court, imo you're saying you were never a victim and just want money.