Brie Larson: Not Clapping for Casey Affleck at Oscars ‘Speaks for Itself’

Casey Affleck and Brie Larson at the Oscars (Photo: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Brie Larson is standing by her decision to not clap for Casey Affleck at the Oscars.

Larson, 27, presented Affleck with the Oscar for Best Actor at the ceremony for his performance in Manchester By the Sea. But when he took the stage to accept the award, the actress refrained from clapping while the rest of the audience gave Affleck a standing ovation.

“I think that whatever it was that I did onstage kind of spoke for itself,” she told Vanity Fair at the Los Angeles premiere of Kong: Skull Island. “I’ve said all that I need to say about that topic.”

Many viewers took to social media to comment on her muted reaction, speculating that Larson’s lack of clapping was a statement against Affleck due to the two sexual-harassment lawsuits that were filed against him in 2010 by two women who worked with him on the film I’m Still Here.

Affleck has denied the allegations, and settled the suits out of court for undisclosed amounts. In the settlement, the actor did not admit any guilt, and he and his accusers are barred from discussing details of the case. He briefly addressed the allegations following his Oscar win, telling the Boston Globe, “I believe that any kind of mistreatment of anyone for any reason is unacceptable and abhorrent. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect in the workplace and anywhere else.”

Larson, who won an Oscar for portraying a sexual-assault victim in Room, has long been an advocate for the cause. At last year’s Oscars, she gave a hug to each of the sexual-assault survivors who joined Lady Gaga onstage for her performance of “Til it Happens to You.”