Ben Affleck Says He's Looking at His 'Own Behavior' When It Comes to Sexual Harassment in Hollywood

Ben Affleck
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The actor, who has apologized for his own past behavior, believes men are just now recognizing how prevalent the problem is.

Ben Affleck thinks one important part of the sexual harassment problem in Hollywood is for men to reflect on their own actions.

"I think, you know, it's obvious it's a terrible thing it's happening on a scale that I don't think anybody except maybe women, you know, understood and recognized how terrible it was and it's opening a lot of people's eyes to this," the Batman v Superman star told AP. "And, you know, for me that means also looking at my own behavior and addressing that and making sure that I'm part of the solution and that I'm, you know, making positive steps and that we're, we're calling out other guys when we're seeing behavior that's inappropriate."

"Secondarily I think the problem… two things need to happen. One – more women need to be pushed to power so that women feel comfortable coming forward and having someone to report to," he added. "And two – I think, you know, it's got to become, it can't just be a woman's issue. It's got to be a men's issue as well, otherwise it will always be an issue."

Affleck's call for more women in positions of authority echoes his initial statement on the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, after which he faced a number of allegations of inappropriate conduct of his own. Last month, the 45-year-old actor took to Twitter to address former MTV TRL host Hilarie Burton's claim in a Twitter conversation that he had groped her on the show, writing, "I acted inappropriately toward Ms. Burton and I sincerely apologize."

Following news of the alleged groping, a source close to Affleck told ET, "Ben has done things in the past in jest that could be seen as over the top or inappropriate but he would never intentionally hurt or harass anyone."

Meanwhile, Affleck's friend, Matt Damon, reacted to the Weinstein scandal, admitting he had knowledge of one alleged incident involving Gwyneth Paltrow. 

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