
So Casey Affleck has finally decided to apologise for his “unprofessional” behaviour on the set of his 2010 film I’m Still Here.
“I behaved in a way and allowed others to behave in a way that was really unprofessional,” the 42-year-old told Associated Press this week. “And I’m sorry.”
During a lengthy interview with the news agency, Affleck presented himself as an enlightened man, and spoke of how he “learned a lot” over the past few years.
To recap, almost 10 years ago on the set of his passion project, two of the film’s crew have claimed the director behaved grossly inappropriately and filed multi-million dollar lawsuits against him.
Most appalling of producer Amanda White and cinematographer Magdalena Gorka’s accusations are that Affleck once crawled into Gorka’s bed while she was sleeping. On another occasion, he tried to convince White to stay in a hotel room with him, and when she refused he “grabbed her in a hostile manner in an effort to intimidate her into complying”, she alleged in court documents.
He also allegedly spoke about his “sexual exploits” a lot during filming and told another crew member to show White his penis.
The excruciating moment Brie Larson announced Affleck had won best actor. Post continues.
Affleck denied these sexual harassment allegations, yet settled out of court with both women for undisclosed amounts.
Addressing these lawsuits now, he expressed his disappointment he did not manage to “resolve things in a different way”.
“I had never had any complaints like that made about me before in my life, and it was really embarrassing,” he added, not failing to include a reminder about how these accusations affected him.
“I didn’t know how to handle it, and I didn’t agree with everything, the way I was being described, and the things that were said about me, but I wanted to try to make it right, so we made it right in the way that was asked at the time.