Matt Damon’s controversial comment on sexual misconduct sets Twitter ablaze

WASHINGTON: Actor and producer Matt Damon has come under the scanner of the Twitterati after making some controversial comments about sexual misconduct in a new interview.

In a recent interview with a leading channel, the 47-year-old actor argued that while he is supportive of women being "empowered" by speaking out about their experiences of sexual harassment, he also insisted that there is a “spectrum of behaviour” that should be respected, and that certain behaviours aren't bad enough to warrant loss of work as a result, reports E! Online.

Damon said, “I think it’s wonderful that women are feeling empowered to tell their stories and it’s totally necessary. You know, there's a difference between, you know, patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right? Both of those behaviours need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn’t be conflated.”

The ‘Great Wall’ star still argued that Louis CK, one of the men named and shamed in recent sexual misconduct exposes, probably shouldn't have lost work or been professionally ruined as a result.

“The Louis C.K. thing. When he came out and said, 'I did this. I did these things. These women are all telling the truth. Well, that’s the sign of somebody who — well, we can work with that,’” noted Damon.

He further added, “The fear for me is that right now, we're in this moment where at the moment — and I hope it doesn't stay this way — the clearer signal to men and to younger people is, deny it. Because if you take responsibility for what you did, your life's going to get ruined.”

But, these comments did not go too well with the users of the micro-blogging site as the star was soon bombarded by fans.

One Twitter user wrote, “Men who splits hairs on the issue of sexual violence are waving a flag so red, it'll burn your eyes.”

“I start to think maybe most men are learning about sexual harassment & assault? Then I read an interview with Matt Damon and realise oh, how terribly naive. Of course not,” wrote another user.

Another user wrote, “The problem with responses like the ones Tom Hanks & Matt Damon gave today is that men are taught their opinion is important even if it's about an issue they don't know much about, while women are taught to apologise for their opinions even when they're well versed in the topic.”

This is not the first time Damon has addressed sexual assault allegations.

Speaking about the Weinstein scandal in October, he described the shamed Hollywood mogul as an “a**hole” and confirmed that he knew of Gwyneth Paltrow’s accusations about Weinstein.