Casey Affleck apologises for "unprofessional" behaviour following sexual harassment accusations

Casey Affleck has admitted he contributed to an “unprofessional environment” in his first interview since being accused of sexual harassment.

In 2010, the actor was sued by cinematographer Magdalena Gorka and producer Amanda White after they worked on the film I’m Still Here together.

Gorka said that she had “awoke to find Affleck lying in the bed next to her” and that without her knowing, Affleck had “entered the bedroom while she was asleep and crawled into the bed,” wearing only his underwear and a t-shirt.

When she woke up, “he had his arm around her, was caressing her back, his face was within inches of hers and his breath reeked of alcohol,” the court documents read.

In a separate lawsuit, White said she also faced a “near daily barrage of sexual comments, innuendo and unwelcome advances” from Affleck and other film crew members.

Both lawsuits were settled out of court.

Now, Affleck has addressed the allegations for the first time in an interview with Associated Press.

When quizzed about one of the lawsuits, he admitted that it was an “unprofessional environment, the buck had to stop with me being one of the producers and I have to accept responsibility for that and that was a mistake.

“I contributed to that unprofessional environment and I tolerated that kind of behaviour from other people and I wish that I hadn’t.”

He added: “I behaved in a way and allowed others to behave in a way that was really unprofessional. And I’m sorry.”

He also spoke about the #MeToo movement, which went viral last year.

He said: “In this business women have been underrepresented and underpaid and objectified and diminished and humiliated and belittled in a bazillion ways and just generally had a mountain of grief thrown at them forever.

“And no one was really making too much of a fuss about it, myself included, until a few women with the kind of courage and wisdom to stand up and say, ‘You know what? Enough is enough’.

“Those are the people who are kind of leading this conversation and should be leading the conversation.

“And I know just enough to know that in general I need to keep my mouth shut and listen and try to figure out what’s going on and be a supporter and a follower in the little, teeny tiny ways that I can.”

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