Matt Damon’s Ocean’s 8 cameo scrapped for ‘storytelling reasons’ after fan petition to have his scenes removed

The director of Ocean’s 8 has revealed why he scrapped Matt Damon’s cameo, after a petition to remove him from the film gained 28,000 signatories.

Despite the number of people who called for Damon’s scenes to be scrapped after his controversial comments on the #MeToo campaign, director Gary Ross has insisted that he removed him from the film for “storytelling reasons”.

Making no mention of the petition, Ross told Hollywood Reporter: “There were a lot of people who were gracious to us that just for editorial and storytelling reasons didn’t make it in and some who did.

“If, you know, we ended up shooting probably another 10 days afterwards, so there’s a lot of material and a lot of shaping. But it really just comes to storytelling.”

Earlier this year, Damon came under fire for saying that the men in Hollywood who hadn’t committed sexual assault “weren’t being talked about enough”.

Later apologising for his comments, he said: “I really wish I’d listened a lot more before I weighed in on this. I think ultimately what it is for me is I don’t want to further anybody’s pain with anything I do or say, so for that, I’m really sorry.

“[With] Time’s Up, a lot of those women are my dear friends, and I love them and respect them and support what they’re doing and want to be a part of that change and want to go along for the ride, but I should get in the backseat and close my mouth for a while.”

A petition was then launched to have him removed from the all-female film follow-up to the Ocean’s crime caper series.

It read: “Damon’s inclusion would trivialise the serious nature of the charges against sexual abusers… [and] would also send a terrible message about the inevitability of – and lack of accountability for – sexual harassment in the workplace.”

The film features a number of celebrity cameos including Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Heidi Klum, Anna Wintour, Serena Williams, Katie Holmes and Gigi Hadid.