Oscar-award winner Matt Damon on Tuesday called allegations of sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein, "the kind of sexual predation that keeps me up at night," and denied claims he tried to help kill a story on Weinstein years ago.
"We know this stuff goes on in the world," Damon, who starred in the Weinstein companies' "The Talented Mr. Ripley," told Deadline after a former The New York Times reporter said Damon helped cover up a story about Weinstein in 2004. "I did five or six movies with Harvey. I never saw this.
"I think a lot of actors have come out and said, everybody's saying, 'we all knew.' That's not true. This type of predation happens behind closed doors, and out of public view. If there was ever an event that I was at and Harvey was doing this kind of thing, and I didn't see it, then I am so deeply sorry, because I would have stopped it. And I will peel my eyes back now, father than I ever have, to look for this type of behavior. Because we know that it happens. I feel horrible for these women, and it's wonderful they have this incredible courage and are standing up now."
Damon said he spoke with the reporter in 2004 but he was never aware the story he was commenting on had anything to do with sexual misconduct.
The actor also said he made the phone call to Sharon Waxman, the reporter, because Weinstein asked him to call and told him he would be speaking up for the professional work of Fabrizio Lombardo, then the head of Miramax Italy.
Damon said men "are a huge part of that change, and we have to be vigilant, and we have to help protect and call this stuff out because we have our sisters and our daughters and our mothers. This kind of stuff can't happen. This morning, I just feel absolutely sick to my stomach."
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