Michael Haneke Michael Haneke: #MeToo has led to a witch hunt 'coloured by a hatred of men' Austrian film-maker says that movement against sexual assault has prompted a ‘crusade against any form of eroticism’ that belongs in Middle Ages Michael Haneke: ‘Every sexual assault and all violence – whether against women or men – should be condemned and punished.’ Photograph: Antony Jones/Getty ImagesMichael Haneke has become the latest figure to criticise the #MeToo movement against sexual assault and harassment in the film industry, arguing that it has instigated a “witch hunt” that “should be left in the Middle Ages”. “This new puritanism coloured by a hatred of men, arriving on the heels of the #MeToo movement, worries me,” he said. And I don’t want to know how many of these accusations related to incidents 20 or 30 years ago are primarily statements that have little to do with sexual assault. “This has nothing to do with the fact that every sexual assault and all violence – whether against women or men – should be condemned and punished. But the witch hunt should be left in the Middle Ages,” he added.

Source: The Guardian February 12, 2018 11:26 UTC