Alyssa Milano pens open letter to Matt Damon after his controversial sexual misconduct comments

Hollywood superstar Matt Damon has seen his views on sexual misconduct allegations criticised by actress Alyssa Milano in a scathing open letter.

Earlier this week the 47-year-old star of Good Will Hunting and The Bourne Identity shared his thoughts on the many high-profile sexual harassment claims which have rocked Hollywood and other industries this year.

Speaking to ABC, Damon was quick to condemn Harvey Weinstein, Louis CK and Kevin Spacey in the wake of allegations against the men, but said that some actions shouldn't be met with as harsh a punishment as others.

Talking to Peter Travers he said:

I do believe that there’s a spectrum of behaviour.

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 behaviours need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn't be conflated, right?

Damon added:

 All of that behaviour 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 behaviour, and it needs to be dealt with that way.

The other stuff is just kind of shameful and gross.

The actor refers to the current climate as being a "culture of outrage and injury" before adding that nobody is perfect and certain allegations need to be looked at more closely.

Damon's take on the subject has been greeted with a strong backlash led by former Charmed actress Alyssa Milano who posted an open letter to the star on Twitter.

Minnie Driver, who briefly dated Damon and starred alongside him in Good Will Hunting also criticised his comments.

At the time of publishing, Mr Damon has not yet responded to the backlash regarding his comments in the ABC interview.

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