Casey Affleck has withdrawn from presenting the best actress award at the 2018 Oscars amid continuing concern about sexual harassment allegations. 
 
 A rep for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed the withdrawal on Thursday and said, “We appreciate the decision to keep the focus on the show and on the great work of this year.” 
 
 Affleck was not immediately available for comment. A rep for the actor said he would not attend the Oscar ceremonies. 
 
 Affleck won the best actor award last year for “Manchester by the Sea.” He would have been in line to present the best actress award if the Academy had followed tradition, under which the previous year’s best actor winner would present the following year’s award for best actress. The show’s producers, Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, had not yet disclosed who the presenter will be. 
 
 The withdrawal comes following the re-emergence of accusations of sexually abusive conduct by Affleck on the set of 2010 movie “I’m Still Here,” which he directed. The allegations were made in lawsuits filed against Affleck by producer Amanda White and director of photography Magdalena Gorka and were settled prior to the release of the film, which starred Joaquin Phoenix. 
 
 Related Last Time I Cried at the Movies How Kevin Hart Failed to Apologize, Offended the LGBTQ Community and Blew His Oscar Hosting Dreams 
 
 Affleck said in an interview with the Boston Globe after winning the Oscar that both sides in the case are prohibited from commenting on the matter and said, “I believe that any kind of mistreatment of anyone for any reason is unacceptable and abhorrent, and everyone deserves to be treated with respect in the workplace and anywhere else.” 
 
 He also told the newspaper, “There’s really nothing I can do about it, other than live my life the way I know I live it and to speak to what my own values are and how I try to live by them all the time.” 
 
 Affleck’s decision to forego the Oscar ceremonies comes as the anti-sexual harassment movement, embodied by the #MeToo and Times Up campaigns, shows no sign of abating. Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Matt Lauer, Louis C.K., and Charlie Rose have lost their jobs over accusations of sexual harassment and assault. 
 
 The Care2 petition started in October calling on the Academy to not allow him to present the Best Actress award had gathered nearly 20,000 signatures. The news about Affleck’s withdrawal was first reported by Deadline Hollywood. ||||| EXCLUSIVE: Casey Affleck has withdrawn from presenting the Best Actress Award at the upcoming Oscars, Deadline hears. He has notified the Academy he will not be attending the event, sources said. I’ve heard that Affleck did not want to become a distraction from the focus that should be on the performances of the actresses in the category and that is why he made the proactive move. He was in a no-win situation, with all the attention surrounding the #MeToo movement. The specter of Affleck presenting would have created controversy. 
 
 “Manchester By The Sea” Amazon Studios 
 
 Affleck won the Best Actor Oscar last year for his performance in Manchester By the Sea. Long considered an underrated actor with strong performances in everything from Gone Baby Gone to Out of the Furnace and Good Will Hunting, Affleck turned in a career performance in the Kenneth Lonergan-directed film as the shell of a man haunted by past family trauma. But attention right now isn’t on that accomplishment as much as the outcry over a settlement and non-disclosure agreements that followed allegations of inappropriate behavior toward two women who worked on I’m Still Here, the film Affleck directed that starred Joaquin Phoenix. 
 
 It has been a tradition at Oscars that the Best Actor winner presents the Best Actress trophy while the Best Actress winner presents Best Actor. Affleck’s decision alleviates a potential sore point for the Academy, and also eliminates an awkward situation for the five nominated lead actresses. Affleck’s hope is to put the focus back on their performances. ||||| Casey Affleck will no longer be presenting the Best Actress Award at the Oscars. 
 
 According to Deadline, The Manchester by the Sea actor will also not be attending the ceremony. 
 
 Affleck allegedly did not want to "become a distraction from the focus that should be on the performances of the actresses in the category". 
 
 His decision to withdraw from presenting came from being in a "no-win situation" because of the #MeToo campaign. 
 
 He feared that his position presenting the award was going to create controversy. 
 
 Affleck's decision to forego bestowing the award and the ceremony isn't a surprise considering claims that have been made against him in the past. 
 
 In 2010, two women that worked on the Affleck-directed film I'm Still Here sued him for sexual harassment. 
 
 One woman claimed Affleck came into her bed while she was sleeping without her consent. 
 
 The other woman claimed she was pressured to stay in his hotel room when he aggressively grabbed her in order to intimidate her upon refusal. 
 
 Both women alleged they were verbally berated by Affleck and he had someone else working for him expose himself to them alongside other misconduct allegations. 
 
 The women also claimed Affleck allegedly locked himself in their hotel rooms along with two other women for sex. 
 
 One woman sued Affleck for $2m, while the other sued for $2.25m. 
 
 In 2010, Affleck settled the cases outside of court and the settlement amounts have never been disclosed. 
 
 The actor has denied the claims. 
 
 According to Affleck's lawyer, he even wanted to counter-sue the women when he was first sued. 
 
 In a 2016 New York Times profile, Affleck addressed the allegations saying, "It was settled to the satisfaction of all. I was hurt and upset—I am sure all were—but I am over it. It was an unfortunate situation—mostly for the innocent bystanders of the families of those involved.” 
 
 Normally the Best Actor gives presents the winner of Best Actress with her award and the Best Actress winner gives the Best Actor his accolade. 
 
 Because of the uncomfortable situation, Affleck has shifted this year's dynamic at the Oscars ceremony. ||||| Many critics have spoken out about Casey Affleck and his controversial past throughout this year’s awards season. Before the upcoming 89th annual Academy Awards this Sunday, February 26, Us Weekly has rounded up everything you need to know about the sexual harassment allegations plaguing the Oscar nominee. 
 
 Affleck, 41, has won more than a dozen awards for his performance in 2016’s Manchester by the Sea (including the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama Motion Picture) and is pegged as the favorite to win best actor at the Oscars. However, his success has raised eyebrows in Hollywood. Both actors and activists have protested his accolades, slamming the Academy for disregarding the claims made against Affleck — Ben Affleck’s younger brother — in two now-settled lawsuits. 
 
 The allegations date back to 2008 and 2009, when the Boston native was shooting his indie film I’m Still Here. According to Time, two women working on the project claimed that the Assassination of Jesse James star had behaved inappropriately with them. One of the women alleged that Affleck crawled into bed with her, without permission, while she was asleep. And the other woman claimed that the actor pressured her to stay in the hotel room and “violently grabbed [her] arm in an effort to intimidate her into staying” when she refused, the complaint states. 
 
 Claire Folger/Roadside Attractions/Amazon Studios 
 
 Both suits, one for $2 million and one for $2.25 million, were settled out of court for undisclosed amounts in 2010. That same year, Affleck vehemently denied the allegations, calling them "extortion," according to a publicly filed court document; many details of the cases remain confidential and unknown. Most recently, he responded to the allegations in a 2016 email to The New York Times. "It was settled to the satisfaction of all. I was hurt and upset — I am sure all were — but I am over it,” he wrote. “It was an unfortunate situation, mostly for the innocent bystanders of the families of those involved.” 
 
 Though the cases have been settled, several celebrities — namely, Fresh Off the Boat star Constance Wu — are having difficulty reconciling the former claims against Affleck with his present triumph during the awards circuit. 
 
 
 
 Michael Kovac/Getty Images 
 
 “Boys! BUY ur way out of trouble by settling out of court!” Wu, 34, sarcastically tweeted in January. “Just do a good acting job, thats all that matters! bc Art isn’t about humanity, right?” 
 
 The outspoken actress added in a subsequent post: "I've been counseled not to talk about this for career's sake. F my career then, I'm a woman & human first. That's what my craft is built on." 
 
 This isn’t the first time the Academy has been criticized for overlooking harassment allegations against male nominees. For example, Mel Gibson — who was caught making anti-Semitic remarks on tape in 2006 and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery in 2011 for hitting his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, among other troubling incidents — is nominated this year for directing 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge. 
 
 While accepting his Golden Globe back in January, Affleck vaguely acknowledged the drama. “Despite how I might think I’m in charge at my house, it’s my kids who give me permission to do this because they have got the strength of character to keep at bay all the noise that sometimes surrounds people who live publicly,” the actor — who shares sons Indiana, 12, and Atticus, 9, with wife Summer Phoenix — said. 
 
 Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox!
– In a break with tradition, last year's Best Actor winner will not be presenting the Best Actress award at this year's Oscars. Casey Affleck's win last year for Manchester by the Sea was controversial because of past accusations of sexual harassment, and sources tell Deadline that he decided to drop out because he "did not want to become a distraction from the focus that should be on the performances of the actresses in the category." Affleck denied accusations in 2010 that he sexually harassed producer Amanda White and director of photography Magdalena Gorka on the set of I'm Still Here, though he settled with them out of court for an undisclosed sum, the Independent reports. A rep for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed Affleck's withdrawal Thursday, saying they "appreciate the decision to keep the focus on the show and on the great work of this year," Variety reports. An Affleck rep says he will not be attending the ceremony at all this year. After last year's controversy, Affleck said both sides in the case are banned from commenting on it. He added that he believes "any kind of mistreatment of anyone for any reason is unacceptable and abhorrent." Almost 20,000 people signed a petition at Care2 urging the Academy not to let Affleck present the award.