Casey Affleck Is a Big, Scared Baby, Won't Present Best Actress Award at Oscars

Casey Affleck, alleged sexual harasser and general fucking creep, has withdrawn from the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony because he did not want to become a “distraction,” which is secret Boston dirtbag code for “a man who reportedly disrespects women, allegedly abuses them, and yet still gets to keep his day job.”

According to ancient Academy Awards tradition, the Best Actor winner of the previous year presents the shiny gold statue to the Best Actress and vice versa. Usually it’s a nice thing, but this year, in this climate, Affleck has recused himself from his duty nearly a month in advance. Per Deadline, he “did not want to become a distraction from the focus that should be on the performances of the actresses in the category.”

Strangely enough, Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr. offers a nibble of what sounds like sympathy, calling Affleck’s particular pickle a “no-win situation, with all the attention surrounding the #MeToo movement.” Pardon me, but hasn’t he already won? The man received an Academy Award and accepted said award with the smug humility of a man who got away with it; he thanked Denzel Washington for teaching him how to act, and Denzel made that face where your mouth disappears into your cheeks and you consider disappearing into the ground forevermore.

Positioning an accused sexual harasser whose allegations and settlements happened before Harvey Weinstein cracked the whole thing open as being in a “no-win situation” is in extremely poor taste; that’s neither here nor there. What matters is this: Casey Affleck is sitting this out likely because his publicist knows better.

A previous version of this item said Casey Affleck was sued for sexual assault; in fact, he was sued for sexual harassment. Jezebel regrets the error.