Manchester By the Sea's Kenneth Lonergan Defends Casey Affleck in Op-Ed Response to College Student

Kenneth Lonergan, who directed Manchester by the Sea and won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for his work on the film, is defending Casey Affleck against his sexual harassment charges.

A student at Kenneth‘s alma mater Wesleyan University wrote an op-ed in the newspaper – pointing out the praise for Kenneth without mentioning his affiliation with Casey, despite harassment allegations to his name. If you didn’t know, Casey was accused of sexual harassment, but settled the case back in 2010 and he has adamantly denied any wrongdoing.

“Wesleyan University has an obligation to reject sexual violence of all kinds,” Connor Aberle, the student, wrote. “Therefore, it cannot claim credit for Lonergan’s success without also recognizing his role in promoting Casey Affleck’s career. Wesleyan must either be cautious in its alumni praise, or it must admit to its students that it cares only about building the Wesleyan University brand rather than social justice or the well-being of the Wesleyan community.”

Click inside to read Kenneth Lonergan’s response…

Kenneth, in response, wrote an article, “How Connor Aberle and The Argus are Complicit in Slandering Casey Affleck”

“Connor Aberle’s article about myself, Casey, Affleck and Wesleyan’s supposed complicity in condoning sexual misconduct – and worse – by tauting me as a Wesleyan alumn after I won an Oscar last week is such a tangle of illogic, misinformation and flat-out slander that only the author’s presumed youth can possibly excuse his deeply offensive display of ignorance, and warped PC-fueled sense of indignation,” Kenneth wrote.

“He writes as if Casey Affleck were actually guilty of a crime. In fact, it was alleged 7 years ago, in a civil lawsuit for breach of contract, that Casey sexually harrased two women formerly in his employ. Casey denounced the allegations as being totally fabricated. Like most civil suits, this one was settled out of court by mutual consent on undisclosed terms…In other words nothing was proved or disproved. So how does Mr Aberle dare to write as if he knows who was telling the truth and who was not?” he continued.