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Constance Wu Slams Academy For Casey Affleck Nom After Sexual Harassment Allegations
Actress Constance Wu attends The 22nd Annual Critics' Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on December 11, 2016 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
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Fresh Off the Boat star Constance Wu has been speaking out about actor Casey Affleck since the nominees for the 89th Annual Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday. Affleck is up for Best Actor for his performance in Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea, a film that is also nominated for Best Picture. Affleck, who has already secured a Golden Globe, shares the nomination with Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Ryan Gosling (La La Land), Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic), and Denzel Washington (Fences). Affleck, however, has been the subject of controversy due to a pair of sexual harassment suits filed in 2010 by two different women who had worked with him on the film I'm Still Here, which starred Joaquin Phoenix. Much like the other revolutionaries of our bizarre times—the National Park Service and NASA, for instance—Wu is running her campaign on Twitter. She also said she doesn't care if her vocal objections to Affleck's nomination derail her career.
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According to one of the complaints, filed by director of photography Magdalena Gorka, Affleck and Phoenix elected to put the crew up in their New York apartment versus getting hotel rooms. At that time, Gorka said that she was the only woman working on the project and that Phoenix told her that she could sleep in his bed and that he would take the couch. She said that she later woke up to find that Affleck had gotten into the bed clad in just a T-shirt and his underwear and was cuddling her with his breath reeking of alcohol. Affleck, at the time, would have been married to Phoenix's sister, Summer Phoenix.
She claimed that Affleck got angry with her when she told him to leave. The complaint indicated that Gorka left the project, but agreed to return when contacted by a producer, Amanda White, who said she would be present at all times. Upon her return, Gorka said she was subject to lewd comments and criticism from Affleck and left the project a second time.
The second complaint was filed by White. She said crew members made unwanted advances and sexual comments, and that on one occasion, Affleck told a crew member to remove his pants and show White his penis, to White's objections. She also stated that she was not able to enter her room in Costa Rica because Affleck and Phoenix had locked themselves in the bedroom with two women, and that Affleck also once tried to intimidate her into going into a hotel room with him.
Both cases were settled for an undisclosed amount in 2010, and Affleck has denied the allegations, telling the New York Times, "It was settled to the satisfaction of all. I was hurt and upset — I am sure all were — but I am over it.”
Wu also attended the Women's March on Washington on January 21, telling the Hollywood Reporter that she arranged for time away from Fresh Off the Boat's production schedule to attend the demonstration.
I, like many people, was a huge Hillary supporter — like the popular vote shows. I was definitely surprised by the election results. But, because I work in an industry where there is a very gross double standard for women and perfection and success and a gross type of forgiveness of flawed men in this industry — I mean you can harass women and still win all the awards, as long as your acting is good.
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And Wu hasn't ceased, continuing to use her platform to address rape culture.
Wu also interjected her protest with a picture of a rabbit, because, why not?
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