Matt Damon's promised cameo in 'Ocean's 8' is nowhere to be seen
For the uninitiated, 'Ocean's Eleven' actor Matt Damon was supposed to make a special appearance in the highly-anticipated all-female reboot titled 'Ocean's 8'.
The heist thriller, boasting an absolutely star-studded cast including topguns like Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, and Helena Bonham Carter, however, includes cameos by a number of original cast members. In fact, early reports had confirmed Elliott Gould's return as Reuben Tishkoff along with another important actor.
As it turns out, Damon — who had earlier confessed to filming "a very small cameo" although he wasn’t “really in the movie a lot” — did not make it to the final theatrical cut.
Speaking to the Sun earlier this year, the actor had said, "I only worked for a day. They asked me to do it and I really wanted to support the project and support these awesome actresses. This is a movie about the women.” Since this statement, though, a lot has changed with the actor joining the bandwagon of Hollywood's most disliked men following his seemingly tone-deaf comments about the sexual harassment allegations.
“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*** 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,” he had said.
Although he publicly condemned the accused Harvey Weinstein, the actor put forth a different point of view, suggesting how the cases against men should be treated on an individual basis. These comments have since put Damon at the receiving end of much flak. Not only did he become the subject of debate but also an online petition was put in place demanding Damon be edited out of 'Ocean's 8'.
"The all-female reboot of Ocean's 8 was supposed to be an empowering film for women," the petition read. “Damon also recently gave an interview where he said he’d still work with people who had been accused of sexual misconduct, on a ‘case-by-case’ basis,” it continued. “This behavior is beyond enabling — it’s just gross. Matt Damon should not be in this movie.”
Considering the slant of popular opinion, one can only imagine how his controversial comments and the eventual stand taken by several petitioners on the Internet might have affected the decision to leave his cameo out of the theatrical release.
Ocean's 8 arrives in theaters on June 8.