Brie Larson confirms refusal to clap for Casey Affleck

CEBU, Philippines - Brie Larson’s refusal to applaud Casey Affleck when he won at the Oscars in February “spoke for itself.”

As the 2016 Best Actress Academy Award winner, the “Room” star was tasked with presenting the 2017 Best Actor Award, which went to Affleck for his role in “Manchester by the Sea.”

While he received a standing ovation from the audience as he went to accept the Oscar, Larson, who remained on stage, notably stood with her hands to her sides and didn’t applaud his win.

Speaking about it for the first time to Vanity Fair, the “Kong: Skull Island” star confirmed her actions were intentional.

“I think that whatever it was that I did on stage kind of spoke for itself,” she said. “I’ve said all that I need to say about that topic.”

Larson wasn’t the only one seemingly against the win of Ben Affleck’s younger brother. A number of Twitter users objected to his victory because of prior sexual harassment allegations.

In 2010, he was sued by Amanda White and Magdalena Gorka, the producer and cinematographer of the mockumentary film “I’m Still Here,” for allegedly sexually harassing them during filming, and both cases were settled later that year.

Affeck, who has always denied the claims, spoke about the criticism to The Boston Globe newspaper days after the ceremony and insisted he objected to all forms of sexual harassment and was aware he couldn’t stop people talking about the allegations.

“There’s really nothing I can do about it. Other than live my life the way I know how I live it and to speak to what my own values are and how I try to live by them all the time,” he said.

“Manchester by the Sea” director Kenneth Lonergan also defended him in a piece for student paper The Wesleyan Argus after the allegations were reported as if they were facts.

“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,” Lonergan wrote.

“So how does Mr. Aberle [the writer] dare to write as if he knows who was telling the truth and who was not? Anyone can sue anyone for anything in this country; the unsubstantiated details go in the public record and stay there.” (FREEMAN)