Casey Affleck withdraws from presenting at Oscars
Casey Affleck has bowed out from presenting the best actress award at this year's Oscars. The "Manchester by the Sea" star, who won best actor at last year's Oscars, confirmed through a rep to Variety that he will not attend the Academy Awards at all. Traditionally, the last winner for best actor presents best actress.
Sexual harassment allegations against Affleck resurfaced after he won his award. In 2010, Affleck settled lawsuits by two women claiming that Affleck subjected them to vulgar treatment.
At last year's Academy Awards, viewers noticed that Brie Larson, who presented him with the award, did not applaud for the actor. Later, she seemed to confirm that she withheld her applause because of the allegations, saying, "I think that whatever it was that I did onstage kind of spoke for itself."
Speaking with the Boston Globe in a post-Oscars interview, Affleck claimed that those condemning him online do not know what happened -- and that both sides are legally prohibited from commenting on the case.
"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," Affleck said, explaining that his online critics don't know what actually happened.
He went on to add: "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."