Brie Larson Refused To Clap After Presenting Casey Affleck With The Oscar

Whether or not Casey Affleck‘s performance in ‘Manchester by the Sea‘ was worthy of an Oscar (and look, I haven’t seen it, but it probably was), there’s no doubt it was controversial in the extreme when he won Best Actor at yesterday’s Academy Awards.

Shortly after he was nominated, Constance Wu spoke out against the Academy for honouring a man who’d had to settle out of court with two women alleging sexually harassment during the making of ‘I’m Still Here‘. One of the women alleged she’d woken up in the middle of her night with him “caressing her back”, with no idea how he’d gotten there.

He vehemently denied the allegations, and a statement by his spokesperson said: “The disputes have been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties and the lawsuits are being dismissed.”

But when he won yesterday, it was seen by many as another step in normalising sexual violence.

Casey Affleck won Best Actor.
Donald Trump is president.
Tell me again how sexual assault charges can “ruin” a man’s career. ??

— Allie Beauregard (@AllieBeauregard) February 27, 2017

Casey Affleck should not have won. People who commit sexual harassment should lose their jobs, not be celebrated with honor and prestige.

— Feminist Frequency (@femfreq) February 27, 2017

Brie Larson, who became an advocate for sexual assault survivors after her Oscar-winning appearance in ‘Room‘, is being praised for her decision not to clap for Affleck after she presented him with the Oscar.

My aesthetic: Brie Larson not clapping for literal trash hole casey affleck pic.twitter.com/Ci5LWXLkCr

— Tyler Struble (@tyler_struble) February 27, 2017

And this was her face when reading that Affleck had won:

we were all Brie Larson when Casey Affleck won pic.twitter.com/EeWQhazI76

— queen of star wars™ (@artoopio) February 27, 2017

So yeah. People were not happy about Affleck’s win, and the fact that Larson was forced to present him with the trophy was just salt in the wound.

last year brie larson won for playing a victim of sexual assault and she just had to present an oscar to casey affleck, a sex criminal

— allison ?? (@devpatelshair) February 27, 2017

The only thing that could make me like Brie Larson more is if she came to the Oscars as Captain Marvel and punched Casey Affleck in the dick

— OhNoSheTwitnt (@OhNoSheTwitnt) February 27, 2017

brie larson everytime she sees casey affleck pic.twitter.com/nkQCta9JxZ

— chiara (@chapmns) February 27, 2017

And then when that now infamous Best Picture kerfuffle happened, B.J. Novak made this extremely good point:

Can we check Best Actor again

— B.J. Novak (@bjnovak) February 27, 2017

It was pointed out that this isn’t even the first time this awards season Larson was forced to present Affleck with an award. The same thing happened at last month’s Golden Globes when he (again) won Best Actor.

Brie Larson, who has been fighting against sexual assault, had to hand an award to, Casey Affleck, a sexual predator twice this year ?? pic.twitter.com/iwtObdI0wH

— lyna (@barnesvans) February 27, 2017

During that ceremony, she also refused to hug him after presenting him with the award. 

So glad Brie Larson found a way to be professional but keep her distance from having to reward Casey Affleck at the Golden Globes. pic.twitter.com/9dTYYxrXe7

— Priyant Pratap (@Priyant1987) January 9, 2017

Now compare that to last year’s Oscars, when Lady Gaga sang ‘Til It Happens To You‘, her song about sexual assault, and was joined on stage by other survivors.