Somebody’s PR machine is very hard at work. Last month, Armie Hammer weighed in on the ongoing #metoo conversation in Hollywood, and pointed out the double standard during last year’s awards season when Nate Parker — writer, director, and star of “The Birth Of Nation” — was asked to answer questions about the details of his 1999 rape trial (he was acquitted), which resurfaced in the press. Granted, he did himself no favors on the press circuit, offering lots of excuses for what happened at that time, but little in the way of apologies, and any Oscar chances Parker and his film had, flew out the window.
Meanwhile, Casey Affleck had no problem walking his way to an Oscar for his performance in “Manchester By The Sea.” While details resurfaced about the settlements he made with the producer and cinematographer of his mockumentary “I’m Still Here,” they did little to slow Hollywood’s celebration of the actor. The accusations of harassment against Affleck were fairly serious. Magdalena Gorka, the director of photography, claimed that the harassment she received from Affleck was “the most traumatizing of her career,” and one night during production, she woke up to find him “curled up next to her in the bed wearing only his underwear and a T-shirt. He had his arm around her, was caressing her back, his face was within inches of hers and his breath reeked of alcohol.” She quit the movie after that incident.
It might seem like conflating two very different incidents to talk about them side-by-side, but The Daily Beast explained quite eloquently why it matters last fall:
As glowing write-ups of Manchester by the Sea continue to roll in, Casey Affleck’s allegations merit more than an asterisk. Coverage of these types of cases often seems to operate according to an invisible scale. At first, unsavory allegations are cast aside in the service of palatable profiles. We subscribe to easy narratives; reporters don’t want to irritate stars with unpleasant questions, and fans don’t want to complicate their adoration with dark details. At a certain point, there is no longer an easy way out. The balance of public opinion shifts toward guilt, or, at the very least, suspicion. That’s why, after years of preserving Bill Cosby’s Teflon reputation, journalists suddenly stopped writing off the dozens of allegations that had been brought against the comedian. It’s why Nate Parker’s controversial past—which, although underreported, had never been a secret—suddenly became headline news in the weeks leading up to the release of The Birth of a Nation.
The Parker parallel is an important one. Of course, Parker was accused of a different, more serious crime—raping a female college student. Parker was acquitted, while Affleck settled. Then there’s the fact that Nate Parker is a black man. Like Affleck, the actor and director had been fast-tracked for critical acclaim and stardom. Considering the fact that Parker’s career has taken a fatal hit, we have to ask why Affleck’s history continues to be hidden paragraphs deep, or swept under the rug entirely. We can’t re-try either of these cases; given the facts that we have, journalists and filmgoers can reach their own conclusions of guilt or innocence. But readers should be given this opportunity. There’s no reason why the details of White and Gorka’s suits—which are available online here and here—shouldn’t be added as a crucial caveat in fawning profiles and glowing reviews.
Hammer essentially said the same thing — albeit less gracefully. “Nate had the stuff in his past, which is heinous and tough to get beyond. I get that,” he stated in November. “But that was when he was 18, and now he’s in directors jail. At the same time, the guy who went and won an Academy Award has three cases of sexual assault against him.”
“And [Parker] had one incident — which was heinous and atrocious — but his entire life is affected in the worst possible way. And the other guy won the highest award you can get as an actor. It just doesn’t make sense,” he continued.
“I’m not saying Nate should not have been in trouble. I’m saying that they got in different levels of trouble,” Hammer added. “And that’s the disparity. It’s like there are two standards for how to deal with someone who has this kind of issue in their past, you know?”
Well, it appears he’s had a change of heart, as Hammer has issued a public, formal apology to Affleck. It reads as follows:
I would like to sincerely apologize to Casey and his family for my recent comments about him in my THR interview. Without knowing the facts about the civil lawsuits at issue (which I now understand were settled), I misspoke. I conflated sexual harassment cases with a criminal case involving sexual assault charges. The cases in which Casey was involved were not criminal and instead involved civil claims from his 2010 movie “I’m Still Here.” While intending to make a social comment about double standards in general, I mistakenly compared reports of prior, public civil allegations that never proceeded to trial with a criminal case that was fully tried. I understand now that this was a poor comparison, which I deeply regret making. I also didn’t mean to insinuate, nor do I believe, that Casey or anyone from his camp had anything to do with leaked information that took place during the press for “Birth of a Nation.” I respect Casey’s work, and I’ve learned a valuable lesson about the need to be more accurate with disseminating information, especially in this age of instantaneous, unchecked communication. While attempting to be part of the solution, I unintentionally made myself part of the problem, for which I am truly sorry.
One wonders what wheels were turning to have Hammer issue this statement. The issue is complex, and while there is a difference between criminal and civil cases, the larger issue the actor was addressing remains the same.