Casey Affleck opts out of presenting Oscar for Best Actress
By Michelle Tompkins-On January 25, 2018
Casey Affleck [Featured image by DFree / Shutterstock.com]
Casey Affleck has opted not to participate in this year’s Oscar ceremonies amid his sexual misconduct allegations.
As last year’s winner for Best Actor for Manchester by the Sea, Affleck would normally be automatically invited to present this year’s award for Best Actress, but a representative of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences confirmed his withdrawal on Thursday, Jan. 25.
Affleck has been accused of sexual misconduct before the #MeToo movement came out. Allegations were made when lawsuits were filed against him by Amanda White and Magdalena Gorka, producer and director of photography respectively from the 2010 film I’m Still Here, which he directed and stared his former brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix.
Deadline reported that Affleck thought his presence would be a distraction and he wanted the focus to be on the actresses rather than on the controversy surrounding him.
Even when he won the Oscar last year, the reception he received was rather frosty, so his opting out now that the tension is even higher seems like a good idea.
Casey Affleck [Iimage by Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com]The producers of the Oscars have not announced who will be his replacement.
Casey Affleck has been a polarizing figure in Hollywood for the past few years, but he continues to work. Do you think he is innocent until proven guilty?
Michelle Tompkins is an award-winning media, PR and crisis communications professional with more than ten years experience with coverage in virtually every traditional and new media outlet. She is currently a communications and media strategist and writer, as well as the author of College Prowler: Guidebook for Columbia University. She served as the Media Relations Manager for the Girl Scouts of the USA where she managed all media and talking points, created social media strategy, trained executives and donors and served as the organization’s primary spokesperson, participating in daily interviews with local, regional, and national media outlets. She managed the media for the Let Me Know internet safety and Cyberbullying prevention campaign with Microsoft, as well as Girl Scouts’ centennial Year of the Girl To Get Her There celebration in 2012, which yielded more than 800 million earned media impressions. In addition to her extensive media experience, Michelle worked as a talent agent in Los Angeles, California, as well contracting as a digital content developer and her writing has appeared in newspapers and online. She is passionate about television, theater, classic movies, all things food and in-home entertaining. While she has lived and worked in NYC for more than a decade, she is from suburban Sacramento and gets back there often to watch the San Francisco Giants on TV with her family.