After All His Talk, Matt Damon a No-Show for ‘Downsizing’ Premiere

After making several controversial remarks regarding the sexual misconduct reckoning taking over industries from Hollywood to politics, Matt Damon was a no-show at the premiere of his upcoming movie Downsizing.

A rep for Damon, who stars in the satirical film, told The Hollywood Reporter that he was out of town for a “family matter” related to his ill father.

Damon had been criticized in recent weeks for his complaints that men who aren’t predators don’t get enough credit.

“We’re in this watershed moment, and it’s great, but I think one thing that’s not being talked about is there are a whole s—load of guys – the preponderance of men I’ve worked with – who don’t do this kind of thing and whose lives aren’t going to be affected,” Damon told Business Insider while promoting the science-fiction film set to release this week.

“I don’t do that, and most of the people I know don’t do that,” he said.

Damon added that he would have second thoughts about working on a project with someone under the cloud of allegations, saying: “I mean, I wouldn’t want to work with somebody who — life’s too short for that. But the question of if somebody had allegations against them, you know, it would be a case-by-case basis. You go, ‘What’s the story here?’ “

Damon’s similar comments from last week also drew criticism from his ex-girlfriend and Good Will Hunting star Minnie Driver and actress Alyssa Milano.

“I do believe that there’s a spectrum of behavior, right? And we’re going to have to figure — you know, there’s a difference between, you know, patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation,” he told ABC News’ Popcorn With Peter Travers.

“Both of those behaviors need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn’t be conflated, right?” he continued.

“Good God, seriously?” Driver wrote in response to his claim. “You don’t get to be hierarchical with abuse. And you don’t get to tell women that because some guy only showed them their penis their pain isn’t as great as a woman who was raped.”

Milano also took to Twitter to express her dismay, writing, “Dear Matt Damon, It’s the micro that makes the macro. We are in a ‘culture of outrage’ because the magnitude of rage is, in fact, overtly outrageous. And it is righteous.”

“We are not outraged because someone grabbed our asses in a picture. We are outraged because we were made to feel this was normal. We are outraged because we have been gaslighted. We are outraged because we were silenced for so long,” Milano continued.

Although Damon’s absence at the Downsizing premiere comes hot on the heels of his controversial comments, he also did not attend an event in October due to a “family emergency.” He was the recipient of the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence, and was a no-show after making an urgent trip back to Boston, Massachusetts.

Kate Mara presented the British Academy of Film and Television Arts award and accepted it on behalf of Damon after informing the audience of his need to travel back to his hometown.

“Unfortunately, Matt has urgently needed to travel back to Boston and couldn’t join us tonight. As much as we wish he was here with us, we know family comes first,” Mara said. “So our thoughts are with you, Matt and much love from your friends here in L.A.”

Damon’s Downsizing co-star, Kristen Wiig, told THR that talking about sexual misconduct is “delicate.”

“It’s a delicate thing for everyone to talk about, and I feel like we’re all learning,” she said. “I have friends who have just told me stories of things that happened to them that I had no idea about it. It’s just been a heartbreaking thing for everybody.”