Marlee Matlin says backlash to her 2009 disclosure that William Hurt physically and sexually abused her during their two-year relationship in the 1980s intensified after Hurt’s death in 2022.
“On social media, I had to look at both sides of the conversations” Matlin told The Guardian on Saturday, referring to some commenters who continued to discount the experiences with Hurt she detailed in her 2009 memoir I’ll Scream Later, and others who defended her against that treatment.
“They were trying to define me, and I would have none of that.” she said. “I wanted them to stop, but at the same time, I decided to step away from the conversation.”
Reflecting on the discourse around Hurt’s death coinciding with her awards campaign for the 2021 film CODA, Matlin said she’s still glad she didn’t wade into the online fracas.
“Nothing would satisfy these people,” she said, “and why should I have to? I didn’t trust what would happen if I did get involved, because of my past experience of being ignored, of being overlooked, not getting any help. But it was interesting to observe, to see the two factions fighting about me thinking that they knew me.”
The pair met while shooting Children of a Lesser God, the 1986 drama that served as Matlin’s screen debut and transformed her into the youngest Best Actress winner in Oscars history, and the only deaf winner in that category. Matlin has previously discussed how by the time of the March 1987 ceremony, Hurt had already begun to abuse her.
Matlin appears shocked but somewhat timid when Hurt, who presented her with the award after winning the previous year’s Best Actor statue for Kiss of the Spider Woman, calls and then signs her name. But Matlin shared that her timidity sprung not from winning over legends like Jane Fonda, Sissy Spacek, and Kathleen Turner for her debut screen performance, but having to face Hurt to accept it.
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“I was afraid as I walked up the stairs to get the Oscar… I was afraid because I knew, in my gut, that he wasn’t that happy,” she said.
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Matlin is the subject of the new documentary Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, which premiered in January at Sundance and opens in theaters around the country in late June through July.
In it, Matlin discusses Hurt’s statement on her 2009 allegations, which read, “My own recollection is that we both apologized and both did a great deal to heal our lives. Of course, I did and do apologize for any pain I caused. And I know we both have grown. I wish Marlee and her family nothing but good.”
She also reflects on going to rehab for drug addiction, on Hurt’s suggestion.
“There were a lot of things I learned in rehab that pointed to things not being right,” she said. “The physical abuse and verbal abuse, the mental and emotional abuse was not right. I learned that there.”
