![Ben Affleck [Image courtesy of Elen Nivrae wikimedia commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/10/12/660x290/b_502x220x82/ben-affleck-image-courtesy-of-elen-nivrae-wikimedia-commons_1626893.jpg "Ben Affleck [Image courtesy of Elen Nivrae wikimedia commons]")
The Hollywood Sexual Harassment scandal that started with revelations of decades of misconduct by movie super-producer Harvey Weinstein has begun to spread, according to the UK Telegraph. Now A-list actor Ben Affleck is being hit by multiple accusations of groping and unwanted touching. Breitbart is reporting that the scandal is hitting just as Affleck is set to star in the superhero action film “Justice League,” reprising his role as Batman.
The actress and the makeup artist
Affleck’s woes started when actress Hilarie Burton recalled via Twitter that Affleck had groped her breasts on an episode of Total Request live in 2003.
The incident was laughed off as amusing at the time. However, 14 years later, with Weinstein’s life and career in ruins, the hilarity is long gone. Affleck hurried to apologize for the incident, tweeting, “I acted inappropriately toward Ms. Burton and I sincerely apologize.”
However, the Twitter exchange brought out a request for an apology by a makeup artist named Annamarie Tendler, who claimed that Affleck grabbed her on the behind during a Golden Globe party in 2014. As of this writing, Affleck has not responded. A comedy writer named Jen Statsky claimed that multiple women endured similar treatment at the same party.
How will the revelations affect ‘Justice League?’
Affleck is suffering a backlash from years old incidents just as his next blockbuster film, “Justice League,” is set to premiere in mid-November.
Affleck will star as Batman, a role he portrayed first in “Superman vs. Batman,” as part of an ensemble cast that includes, ironically, Gal Gadot as feminist icon Wonder Woman. The sexual harassment scandal has hit at just the wrong time for the studio that was counting on the film to be a box office success.
Imagine if an organized boycott develops against “Justice League” or if audiences start booing when Affleck appears in the film.
The result could be a public relations disaster.
The fallout will largely depend on how many more women come forward to point a finger of accusation. A culture of sexual harassment that is alleged to have prevailed in Hollywood is being laid bare by the Weinstein and now Affleck scandals. While Affleck’s alleged behavior is, thus far, has been in no way as swinish as that Weinstein is accused of being engaged in, what was once regarded as playful and amusing is not being tolerated any longer.
Hollywood seems to have thought itself immune to the zero tolerance for sexual harassment that swept through most work placed in the 1990s. The winking and nodding have ceased in less than a week, and the fallout is currently difficult to predict.
