The Oscar for Best Actor is one of the most coveted and esteemed awards in Hollywood, a sign of the respect in which a film star is held by the industry.
It’s unsurprising, then, that the Academy’s decision to award this year’s Best Actor statuette to Casey Affleck, the 41-year-old star nominated for his role in Manchester by the Sea, has been met with some consternation.
The actor, after all, was accused of sexual harassment in 2010, when two female employees – a producer and a cinematographer on his film I’m Still Here – filed separate lawsuits against him. He was alleged to have made unwanted advances towards both women, which included crawling into the bed of one while she slept. Affleck denied the allegations, and both cases were later settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. With a Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA and now Oscar win to his name, Affleck’s film career has emerged almost entirely unscathed by these allegations.
His case stands in contrast to that of Nate Parker, the African-American star, writer and director of T_he Birth of a Nation_, a film initially touted as an Oscar hopeful on its debut at the Sundance Film Festival. Parker was accused and acquitted of rape in 1999. When this case came to light last year, it entirely derailed any awards hopes attached to his film (which bombed at the box office, too.)
Of course, the two cases aren’t identical, but the industry’s willingness to forgive Affleck – and separately, actor and director Mel Gibson, seemingly reduced to a mere figure of fun in Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue – speaks volumes about how Hollywood treats powerful white men accused of abusing women. Casey is, of course, extremely well connected in the industry, being the younger brother of multiple Oscar winner Ben and a childhood friend of Matt Damon.
It’s award show tradition that the winner of last year’s Best Actor statuette presents the new Best Actress with her little gold man, and vice versa. On Sunday night, this meant Brie Larson was tasked with giving Affleck his award once again – having done the same back in January at the Golden Globes – and she didn’t pretend to be happy about it.
While the actress kept things professional, she also made a subtle but definite statement: refusing to clap while Affleck gave his acceptance speech, and maintaining a pointed distance from him as she left the stage (compare and contrast the footage of Larson’s friend Emma Stone receiving her Oscar from Leonardo DiCaprio).
Larson is a high profile advocate for survivors of sexual assault, and there’s a particularly grim irony in having a woman who was lauded for her sensitive, nuanced portrayal of an abused woman in Room hand a statue to a man accused of sexual harassment.
The actress wasn’t the only audience member less than thrilled by Affleck’s Best Actor win. When the Manchester by the Sea star namechecked his fellow nominee Denzel Washington, describing him as ‘one of the first people who taught me how to act,’ the camera panned to Washington looking less than impressed.
Chrissy Teigen, meanwhile, could be seen feigning sleep throughout Affleck’s speech in silent protest (either that, or she was just really, really bored.)
Larson’s action was a small and simple one, but millions of people around the world saw her refusing to collude in her industry’s willingness to forgive and forget abuse when it suits them. And with a man sat in the White House whose actions and rhetoric are helping to normalise misogyny, that can’t help but feel important.
READ MORE: Should Abusive Stars Be Forgiven By Hollywood Just Because They've Got Talent?