Michael Haneke slams #MeToo movement

Los Angeles, Feb 11: Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke has slammed the #MeToo movement, calling it a witch hunt.

The #MeToo movement was started last year by actresses and models and other powerful women in Hollywood against sexual misconduct at work against celebrities like disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. 

Several celebrities including French actress Catherine Deneuve and German actress Ingrid Caven, signed an editorial in French daily Le Monde criticising the movement. 

According to hollywoodreporter.com, Haneke said in an Austrian newspaper that "this new puritanism coloured by a hatred of men, arriving on the heels of the #MeToo movement, worries me".

"As artistes, w''re starting to be fearful since w''re faced with this crusade against any form of eroticism"" added the director of "Amour".

Haneke believes those guilty of rape or abuse should still be punished, however, he said: "I find the hysteria and condemnations without any trial totally disgusting"" 

He blamed the media for the "murdered lives and careers in the process" and condemned the movement as "a witch hunt".