Matt Damon’s ‘Ocean’s 8’ Cameo Cut For Storytelling, Not #MeToo Backlash
In the weeks and months leading up to the Ocean’s 8 release date, cameos from Danny Ocean’s crew, including Ocean’s 11 co-stars Matt Damon and Carl Reiner, were teased. However, audiences who saw the franchise record-breaking movie over the weekend left wondering why they didn’t see the promised glimpses of familiar characters as the story, which featured Sandra Bullock as Debbie Ocean played out on the big screen.
Ultimately, the only cameos that made the film’s final cut were Elliott Gould as Reuben Tishkoff and Shaobo Qin as Yen, according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter. Two rumored appearances that didn’t happen included Matt Damon as Linus Caldwell and Carl Reiner as Saul Bloom.
After Matt Damon made controversial comments about Harvey Weinstein during the height of the #MeToo movement, a petition circulated to ax his appearance in the Ocean’s 8 movie.
According to a Vulture report, of the reports of sexual assault and sexual misconduct among the Hollywood Elite, Damon made some comments that were at best tone deaf. He said, “I do believe that there’s a spectrum of behavior. 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, right? Both of those behaviors need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn’t be conflated, right?”
The Ocean’s 11 actor went on to explain, “All of that behavior needs to be confronted, but there is a continuum. And on this end of the continuum where you have rape and child molestation or whatever, you know, that’s prison. Right? And that’s what needs to happen. Okay? And then we can talk about rehabilitation and everything else. That’s criminal behavior, and it needs to be dealt with that way. The other stuff is just kind of shameful and gross.”
After that, he went on to discuss how he felt about specific allegations and if the person in question should face the consequences and if so what those consequences should be. Damon did admit that he knew about at least one instance of Harvey Weinstein’s history with Gwenyth Paltrow.
These 8 steal the show. #Oceans8 is NOW PLAYING! Get tickets: https://t.co/Ow6HXVV4E9 pic.twitter.com/hVjgI91VEc
— Oceans8Movie (@oceans8movie) June 9, 2018
Many people felt that Damon’s scene disappearing from the female-led Ocean’s 8 movie happened because of his previous comments relating to the #MeToo movement. However, according to Director Gary Ross, the scenes with Damon were left out due to “storytelling.”
The movie pulled in $41.5 million and took the weekend’s top spot at the box office, according to the New York Times. The film also starred Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Helena Bonham Carter, Awkwafina, Rihanna, and James Corden.
