Ben Affleck: Now That You Mention It, I'm Sorry I Groped an Actress' Breasts in 2003

To be honest, I'm mainly doing these Affleck stories because LauraW. loves him so damn much, and I'm a jealous person.

I didn't link this yesterday because I'm not sure it's a big deal. But then, Lauraw.

That disclosure made-- all sorts of things are coming out now.

Ben Affleck apologized to actress Hilarie Burton for groping her during an appearance on "TRL" in 2003.

"I acted inappropriately toward Ms. Burton and I sincerely apologize," Affleck tweeted Wednesday.

The reason I say maybe this isn't such a big deal is that a video of the actress recounting the event (at the link) indicates she took it as a harmless joke. But who knows, maybe she just felt she had to "be cool about it" on TV.

And I don't know if someone choosing not to make a big deal over something actually excuses the violation in question. Terry Crews did not make a big deal over a Hollywood exec grabbing his privates -- but that doesn't mean it was appreciated.

I guess I'm saying that someone's level of presented outrage -- or their shrugging it off as just something that happened -- is irrelevant as to judging whether the act itself was wrongful.

She also says that she had to choose to laugh about it, because the alternative was crying.

I'd say that's a good decision. Better to shrug it off than dwell on it. But it doesn't absolve Affleck.

This still isn't the biggest deal. It's a deal, just not the biggest. It casts a lot of doubt on his claim of being appalled or whatever about Harvey Weinstein's behavior.

It also casts doubt on his previous Social Justice Warrior hyper-sensitivity to anything "gross" that hurts people's feelings.

And a little update on the story about NBC killing Ronan Farrow's Weinstein report:

Well, I guess if you just tell someone to stop working on a story, that's one way to make sure it never meets your editorial requirements for publication.

A source says he was told to "stop working on this."

"Ronan was basically told to stop working on this," according to a source, who called the network's decision "indefensible."

The more important point, though, is that LauraW. should feel deeply ashamed about her crush on Chester the Molestor and issue her own apology.

posted by Ace at 08:28 PM

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