Jessica Chastain has elaborated on her defense of Matt Damon, who was accused by journalist Sharon Waxman of trying to kill a story she was working on in 2004 on the allegations against Harvey Weinstein that were eventually reported by the New York Times in early October.
Originally, Chastain tweeted that Damon was likely manipulated. "I've spent time with him on The Martian and he's a really good guy," she added.
Now, in an interview with The Standard, she shed more light on the matter.
"I believe he had no idea what the story was about when he called the journalist," she said. "He was manipulated by Weinstein. But…I really don’t want to talk about Matt because it’s just another gossipy distraction. I’m more interested in how we can make progress. We can’t just let this be a reaction to the Trump presidency. We have to create change. And I believe our attention goes where our intention goes."
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Damon expressed similar sentiments to Deadline when he first responded to the accusation, saying that, "for the record, I would never, ever, ever try to kill a story like that. I just wouldn’t do that. It’s not something I would do, for anybody.
Instead, he remembers the phone call more like this:
"My recollection was that it was about a one minute phone call. Harvey had called me and said, they’re writing a story about Fabrizio, who I knew from The Talented Mr. Ripley. He had organized our premiere in Italy and so I knew him in a professional capacity and I’d had dinner at his house. Harvey said, 'Sharon Waxman is writing a story about Fabrizio and it’s really negative. Can you just call and tell her what your experience with Fabrizio was?' So I did, and that’s what I said to her. It didn’t even make the piece that she wrote."
It just goes to show how many people were pulled into Weinstein's circle of manipulation and intimidation before he was exposed.
Refinery29 has reached out to Chastain, Damon, and Weinstein for comment.
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