Oscars 2017: Casey Affleck Wins Best Actor for Manchester by the Sea

Casey Affleck may have won the Oscar for Best Actor – but not everyone was rooting for him.

According to the Huffington Post, Larson immersed herself fully in her role, meeting with psychologists to gain a level of true empathy for real life sexual assault victims. He also won the Golden Globe this year for best actor for Manchester by the Sea, and won the best actor award Saturday at the Spirit Awards as well.

“f***ing creep wins Oscar” was an article Jezebel ran in the aftermath of his speech, and Twitter erupted with some equally savage jokes.

It was improbable enough when Ben Affleck won a second Academy Award in 2012 following a career slide that included a string of mediocre movies. “Dats da truth. By Any Means Necessary”, Spike Lee posted on his Instagram page along with images of the respective characters Washington played in Fences and Malcolm X. “Watching your friends win”.

There’s a valuable debate to be had about separating art from artist.

In non-acting categories, CNN speculates that Damien Chazelle will be given more awards for directing “La La Land”.

Back in 2010, Affleck was accused by two women, a producer and director of photography on Phoaquin Phoenix’s I’m Still Here – in which he starred – of sexual harassment and abuse.

The counter to Wu’s point would be that, when honoring art, the work must trump the person, because otherwise the Oscars would turn into a judgment of every nominee on a personal level.

But Casey Affleck seems to be one in a long line of men in the boy’s club with a teflon coating. I see a woman (or man) who actively seeks justice for the havoc wreaked on his or her mind or body as courageous. The last ten minutes of the broadcast dominated much of the following day’s news cycle, but if the faux pas hadn’t happened, the exchange between Brie Larson and Casey Affleck might have been one of the most talked about moments. It can be recalled that winners from the past Oscars have used their air time expressing their political views. But while the audience applauded as the actor came to the stage to collect his award, Brie stood with her hands at her side, without clapping for him. The allegations against Affleck-which were made between 2008 and 2009-hounded the actor in the days leading up to the Oscars (the apparently not enough to cost him the trophy).