Turns Out Matt Damon Totally Knew About Gwyneth Paltrow’s Weinstein Allegation

Oh boy. A week or so after saying he had been totally in the dark about Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual misconduct, Matt Damon has now admitted yes, he actually did know something. In a new interview with ABC, alongside George Clooney for the pair’s new film Suburbicon, Damon has confirmed he knew of some “womanizing” behaviours, as well as a specific allegation of harassment Gwyneth Paltrow had made.

Weinstein — who is known as a Hollywood kingmaker, and is in part responsible for launching the career of Hollywood rat pack Ben Affleck, George Clooney and Matt Damon — is now accused of harassment, assault or rape by over 40 women in Hollywood.

Earlier in the scandal’s long-stretching timeline, Damon made a relatively well-received statement — after much public persuasion — admonishing his producer mentor. “I think a lot of actors have come out and said, everybody’s saying we all knew. That’s not true,” he said. “This type of predation happens behind closed doors, and out of public view. If there was ever an event that I was at and Harvey was doing this kind of thing and I didn’t see it, then I am so deeply sorry, because I would have stopped it.”

This is where he’s at today:

“When people say, like, ‘Everybody knew,’ Like, yeah, I knew he was an asshole,” Damon told ABC News. “He was proud of that. That’s how he carried himself. I knew he was a womanizer. I wouldn’t want to be married to the guy. But this level of criminal sexual predation is not something that I ever thought was going on. Absolutely not.”

“You had to spend about five minutes with him to know that he was a bully,” Damon said. “He was intimidating. Miramax was the place, really the place, that was making great stuff in the ’90s. And it was like, ‘Could you survive Harvey?'” And boy, does the latter part of that statement sure give you an indication of exactly how Weinstein, who ran “the place” in Hollywood, got away with what it’s alleged he got away with.

But perhaps the most damning part comes when Damon addresses the allegations made against Weinstein by actor — and Miramax’s “first lady”, to quote Damon — Gwyneth Paltrow. “I never talked to Gwyneth about it. Ben [Affleck] told me, but I knew that they had come to whatever agreement or understanding that they had come to, she had handled it,” Damon said.

So which is it, dude? You knew nothing, or you actually knew something and you just chose to ignore it, or consider it “handled”?

Only Clooney managed to keep his head in the game during the interview, as he alleged that Weinstein told him about bedding actresses, but that Clooney believed he was lying. He called the whole thing “infuriating”, which is kind of a weird choice of words, but ok.

In my opinion, it’s well past time to find out exactly what people knew and did not know about Weinstein’s alleged misconduct, before they continue on as the anointed princes of Hollywood unchecked.

"That's not my business really" Oh Really Matt Damon https://t.co/TPD9w8gV8l pic.twitter.com/3xFa0HEBdu

— Anne Helen Petersen (@annehelen) October 23, 2017

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