https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMq6xDHBKwQ
Just a day after Ben Affleck denounced the decades of allegations of sexual assault against his former collaborator Harvey Weinstein, Ben Affleck was called out by Rose McGowan for supposedly knowing about Weinstein’s actions, but also for a 2003 clip in which he gropes actress Hilarie Burton. Now another cringe-inducing video has resurfaced, showing Affleck and TV host Anne-Marie Losique intertwined, making for some really bad optics.
Affleck apologized for acting “inappropriately” towards Burton (after 13 years had passed and only when it’s become a national story), but now fans are pointing at this hands-y interview for Canadian TV as another piece of evidence in the case of “Is Batman a Creep?”
I acted inappropriately toward Ms. Burton and I sincerely apologize
— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) October 11, 2017
For her part, Losique is saying the clip, which certainly looks bad in the context of the recent outing of male awfulness in Hollywood, is being blown out of proportion:
“This was for the camera. You have to understand that we have done dozens and dozens of interviews like that. It was for a show I was producing, so I was not at all a victim. When the cameras rolled, we would start to do that game. As soon as it stopped rolling, there was none of that. He never touched me in any improper way. He was very respectful, I must say.”
Losique continued to reiterate her point with The Hollywood Reporter saying the clip was surfacing now to basically pile-on: “It has been blown out of proportion. I know that people like fishing for anything, but this is completely out of context. I would like this to not have any negative impact on him. I find it sad.”
The interview was conducted during the promotional tour for Affleck’s Jersey Girl. Losique continued: “I can’t say I am thrilled to have that interview mixed in with the other stories because I don’t think that is at all the same thing.” It’s unknown how this helped the promotion of the film.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
