We’ve all had moments when we’ve wished our ex-partners would just stop talking. Spare a thought, then, for Minnie Driver, who has spoken out against her former boyfriend Matt Damon after he mused on the subject of sexual misconduct in a controversial interview.

Damon spoke to ABC News last week about the multiple allegations of sexual abuse made against Harvey Weinstein (with whom he worked on the 1997 film Good Will Hunting). The actor insisted he knew nothing about the producer’s abusive treatment of women, but has been heavily criticised for comments he made about sexual abuse more generally.

“I think it’s wonderful that women are feeling empowered to tell their stories … [but] I do believe that there’s a spectrum of behaviour, right?” Damon said.

“There’s a difference between, you know, patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right?” he added. “Both of those behaviours need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn’t be conflated, right?”

People who commit “rape and child molestation or whatever” should go to prison, Damon continued, but “the other stuff is just kind of shameful and gross”.

Minnie Driver calls out ex-boyfriend Matt Damon for controversial comments on sexual abuse