Hollywood saw one of the most notorious scandals in 2017 unfolding amid the #metoo movement, the Harvey Weinstein scandal, as he faced charges of assault and harassement by numerous women. And A-listers such as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were also implicated in the controversy surrounding the disgraced producer.
In response to the backlash regarding their alleged involvement in the scandal, Jessica Chastain stepped forward to express her support for Damon, a gesture that shocked many fans, who found it difficult to reconcile her support for him amid the unfolding scandal.
How Did Matt Damon Get Caught Up in the Harvey Weinstein Scandal?
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are known to have grown close to the disgraced Hollywood producer after their Oscar-winning film Good Will Hunting. Following his first Oscar win for the 1997 drama, Damon went on to collaborate with Weinstein’s companies on several films, including The Talented Mr. Ripley.
However, amid the surfaced allegations against Harvey Weinstein, Damon found himself entangled in the controversy after The Wrap editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman claimed that in 2004 he and Russell Crowe helped suppress her initial story about the producer’s alleged s*xual misconduct.
She claimed that the interference led to the removal of any mention of s*xual misconduct when the story was eventually published. Damon, however, denied the claims in an interview with Deadline, saying,
My recollection was that it was about a one-minute phone call. Harvey had called me and said, they’re writing a story about Fabrizio, who I knew from The Talented Mr. Ripley.
He claimed that he knew Fabrizio in a “professional capacity” and was asked by Weinstein to share his positive experience with Waxman, arguing that she was writing “a negative piece, a hit job on Fabrizio,” with the claims “that he had no professional experience.”
Matt Damon said that he had a positive experience with Fabrizio and he didn’t mind sharing it. He also shared that though he worked with Weinstein several times, he was not aware of his predatory behavior. Damon expressed regret for not recognizing such actions, stating that he would have intervened had he known.
Jessica Chastain Came in Matt Damon’s Support Amid the Harvey Weinstein Scandal
After the allegations against Harvey Weinstein were revealed, Jessica Chastain continued to be vocal about the claims she had heard about the producer. “I was warned from the beginning. The stories were everywhere,” she said in a tweet.
However, people were caught off guard when the actress shared a tweet in support of her The Martian co-star, re-tweeting the Deadline interview, where Damon asserted, “For the record, I would never, ever, ever try to kill a story like that. I just wouldn’t do that.”
In his defense, the Interstellar actress tweeted, “I believe that Matt was manipulated. I’ve spent time with him on The Martian and he’s a really good guy.” The tweet, however, surprised many, considering Chastain’s opinion on the scandal prior to defending Damon.
Jessica please no. Just because he was a “good guy” during the Martian doesn’t mean he didn’t do this
— jess 👻 (@salty_jess) October 10, 2017
Maybe he was a good guy to you.
— A. Devi (@a_dev6) October 10, 2017
doesn’t everyone seem like a “good guy” until they abuse their power? jess i love you and you’re really disappointing me
— christina (@ladybiird) October 10, 2017
Someday it’ll come out Matt knew about Harvey and Casey, and again we’ll talk about Hollywood protecting the powerful. #boycottSuburbicon
— Samantha Downing (@smariedowning) October 10, 2017
Jes, consider that “good” people do bad things and make bad decisions, but repeated patterns of such are reasons to question the foundation
— Check my pinned tweet 🫶🏾#whiskeygirl (@femalemsktr) October 10, 2017
A lot of people are saying that Weinstein is “ a really good guy.”
— James 🌊🌊🌊 Stands with Ukraine and Navalny 🌈🐶 (@bigdawg_sd) October 10, 2017
“Jessica please no. Just because he was a “good guy” during the Martian doesn’t mean he didn’t do this,” one X (Twitter) user said. Many others also echoed their disappointment, stating, “Maybe he was a good guy to you.”
It led the actress to later clarify in follow-up tweets that Damon was not aware of the true nature of the article and had been manipulated by Harvey Weinstein as she emphasized her ongoing support for victims of s*xual violence.
