Matt Damon provoked an angry and despairing backlash since wading into a conversation about the allegations of sexual harassment and abuse emerging from Hollywood and beyond last week.

The actor had said on ABC News that alleged misconduct by high-profile men included 'a spectrum of behaviour', and there was 'a difference between patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation'.

He added: 'Both of those behaviours need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn't be conflated.'

And now Damon's former Good Will Hunting co-star, and ex-girlfriend, Minnie Driver is the latest star to criticise his comments, claiming that men 'simply cannot understand what abuse is like on a daily level', and therefore should not dissecting or scrutinising different levels of misconduct against women.

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Driver initially responded to Damon's controversial interview this week by tweeting: 'God God, SERIOUSLY?

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'Gosh it's so interesting (profoundly unsurprising) how men with all these opinions about women's differentiation between sexual misconduct, assault and rape reveal themselves to be utterly tone deaf and as a result, systemically part of the problem.'

The actress added to The Guardian: 'I felt I desperately needed to say something. I've realised that most men, good men, the men that I love, there is a cut-off in their ability to understand. They simply cannot understand what abuse is like on a daily level.

'I honestly think that until we get on the same page, you can't tell a woman about their abuse. A man cannot do that. No one can. It is so individual and so personal, it's galling when a powerful man steps up and starts dictating the terms, whether he intends it or no.'

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Damon had added that we are currently experiencing a 'watershed moment' and it's 'wonderful that women are feeling empowered to tell their stories and it's totally necessary'.

He then suggested that disgraced comedian Louis C.K could come back and work again following his scandal.

Meanwhile, Alyssa Milano said it best when she tweeted: 'There are different stages of cancer. Some more treatable than others. But it's still cancer.'

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Naomi Gordon

Naomi Gordon is news writer mainly covering entertainment news with a focus on celebrity interviews and television.