Filmmaker Cameron Bossert has launched a petition for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to uninvite Casey Affleck to this year’s Oscars because the actor was accused of sexual harassment back in 2010.
Currently, the petition on Change.org has 12,600 signatures, and it’s asking for the Academy to bar Affleck from presenting the Best Actress statue next year despite a long-standing tradition of having the previous year’s winners return.
“In light of the revelations that Harvey Weinstein has been sexually harassing and assaulting women for decades, the Academy Awards recently voted to strip Weinstein of his membership — but did you know that another accused sexual harasser is set to participate in the 2018 ceremony?” Bossert wrote on the website. “Sign my petition asking that the Academy bar Casey Affleck from handing out the Best Actress Statue in the 2018 awards ceremony.”
A representative for Affleck has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Affleck, who won the Best Actor award in February for his role in “Manchester by the Sea,” was slapped with two lawsuits for sexual harassment in 2010 stemming from production on the 2010 mock documentary “I’m Still Here” that he directed and co-wrote.
In one case, Affleck was sued and accused of calling women “cows” and ordering a crew member to expose himself as a joke.
In the other, “I’m Still Here” cinematographer Magdelena Gorka said that Affleck joked that she should have sex with a camera assistant, and that she once woke up in bed with Affleck to find him wearing a T-shirt and underwear, stroking her back.
The actor vehemently denied all of the accusations and counter-sued. The cases were ultimately settled out of court.
Bossert cited those cases in his call to have Affleck barred from the Oscar ceremony. “With so many credible accusations against him, the Academy should take action and rescind the privilege this year,” the letter concluded.
On Oct. 14, the Academy expelled Weinstein in the wake of numerous allegations of sexual harassment and rape. The vote to expel Weinstein was “well in excess” of the required two-thirds majority from the 54-member board.