Casey Affleck accepts the Best Actor award for Manchester by the Sea onstage during the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California.
Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images
Casey Affleck will not present Best Actress at this year's Academy Awards, Deadline reports. The job traditionally falls to the previous year's winner of the opposite gendered award - Affleck won Best Actor for his role in Manchester by the Sea last year - but according to Deadline's sources, he's withdrawn from the ceremony entirely. The decision is reportedly related to controversy stemming from last year's win, which many people felt was inappropriate given the sexual assault allegations surrounding him.
In 2010, Affleck settled a lawsuit with two women who worked on his film I'm Still Here, where they said they experienced harassment in the form of male crew members exposing themselves and constantly making unwanted advances, among other vile behavior, all of which Affleck allegedly encouraged. The director turned actor denied the allegations, but did land on a settlement. Still, as the Cut points out, the story never managed to follow him around as other similar cases. Regardless, Affleck's decision to stay home means at least one woman won't have to receive one of the most important awards of her life from someone known for alleged sexual misconduct, unless they replace him with someone who is also known for that.