Stephen Colbert grilled Ben Affleck about his history of sexual harassment

Stephen Colbert is not one to shy away from difficult subjects. This year on The Late Show, he’s talked about mass shootings, the chaos in the White House, and the resurgence of white supremacy. And on Thursday, November 16th, Colbert pressed Ben Affleck about his history of sexual harassment.

Affleck came on the show to promote Justice League. However, a discussion about the 20th anniversary of Good Will Huntingsoon led Colbert to question the actor about his connection to Harvey Weinstein.

"Did you feel that because you had such a close association with him at the beginning of your career, that you had to do more than simply distance yourself from Harvey Weinstein?" Colbert asked. "Because everybody ran for the exits."

After an uncomfortable start to his answer — “This is a comedy show, right?” — Affleck went on to say that he did feel conflicted about Weinstein’s involvement with films he had worked on.The actor added that he had decided to donate his residuals from Weinstein’s films to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) and Film Independent.

We need more interviews like this. Thank you @StephenAtHome for asking the uncomfortable questions https://t.co/JkWElPBVcs

— Meghan De Maria (@meghandemaria) November 17, 2017

Colbert didn’t stop there. He explicitly referenced sexual harassment allegations against Affleck.

“You’ve been accused of a few things — sexual impropriety — and you’ve apologized for some of that, and do you feel like there is more that you, or all men, especially in Hollywood, have to do to make sure that this isn’t a passing thing where women are listened to?” Colbert asked.

Affleck — who has been accused of groping actress Hilarie Burton on camera — said he didn’t remember the incident, but was apologetic.

"I certainly don't think she's lying or making it up," he said. "It's just the kind of thing that we have to, as men, I think, we become more aware of this, be really, really mindful of our behavior and how we hold ourselves accountable and say, 'If I was ever part of the problem, I want to change. I want to be part of the solution."

You can watch the full segment here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSS6kGWNEeA?feature=oembed

We applaud Colbert’s willingness to tackle controversy on his show. Sexual assault is an issue that deserves attention from everybody, and holding men accountable for their actions is a huge and necessary step for tackling this problem.