Ben Affleck was among the many Hollywood names coming out to condemn movie mogul Harvey Weinstein this week after exposés by the New York Times and the New Yorker revealed alleged sexual harassment and abuse of women in the industry over decades. But soon after Affleck released a statement Tuesday saying he was “saddened and angry,” the actor-director found his own history under scrutiny.Actress Hilarie Burton acknowledged an accusation that Affleck had groped her during a 2003 taping of MTV’s “Total Request Live,” which she hosted in the early 2000s.Affleck “grabbed Hilarie Burton’s breasts on TRL once,” a Twitter user named Shanice Brim wrote. “Everyone forgot, though.”“I didn’t forget,” responded Burton, in a tweet. “I had to laugh back then so I wouldn’t cry,” she later said in the Twitter conversation. Video of the incident can be seen here.Affleck tweeted an apology to Burton on Wednesday.Actress Rose McGowan told Affleck to “fuck off” and called him a liar after he condemned Weinstein.“‘GODDAMNIT! I TOLD HIM TO STOP DOING THAT’ you said that to my face,” McGowan wrote in a tweet at Affleck. “The press conf I was made to go to after assault. You lie.”Earlier in the week, McGowan chided Affleck and his younger brother, Casey, over Weinstein’s scandal. Casey Affleck has settled two sexual harassment lawsuits brought against him and generated a significant amount of controversy — about which Ben has remained silent — when he won the 2017 Academy Award for best actor for “Manchester by the Sea” in spite of these allegations.Ben Affleck, whose career success was catapulted by Weinstein’s backing of the 1997 hit “Good Will Hunting,” has yet to respond to McGowan’s accusations. Actor Matt Damon — a frequent collaborator of Affleck’s, executive producer of “Manchester by the Sea,” and co-author of the “Good Will Hunting” script — also came under fire for allegedly attempting to quash reports about Weinstein’s abuse in the past. Damon denied that he attempted to kill any stories about Weinstein.
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