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This past week, Jodi Kantor, Megan Twoey and *Ronan Farrow led investigative pieces that recounted reports from numerous women (twenty so far) accusing Harvey Weinstein, a top Hollywood producer, of sexual harassment, abuse and rape. Their accounts unearthed over 20 years of haunting stories from multiple actresses, colleagues and other women, and also revealed that he paid off many of these victims and others who knew of the incidents to kill the stories.
* Ronan Farrow is the son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen. Allen has been accused of multiple incidents of sexual abuse against his adopted daughter and Ronan’s sister, Dylan. *
Throughout the week, many celebrities have spoken out in regards to Weinstein and have given their support to the women who have come forward with their reports. However, quite a few of the stars who have released statements are now being condemned based on the fact that they themselves have been accused of similar misconducts or that they support and work with other men who have been accused and or convicted of sexual assault as well.
Here is a list of those who have spoken out against Weinstein and why they could be perceived as hypocritical:
Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet has worked with both Woody Allen and Roman Polanski (a film director who drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl in 1977) and has spoken favorably of them in the past. “I had an extraordinary working experience with both of those men, and that’s the truth,” Winslet said. She touched on the scandal involving Allen, saying, “Of course one thinks about it. But at the same time, I didn’t know Woody and I don’t know anything about that family,” Winslet told the New York Times. “As the actor in the film, you just have to step away and say, I don’t know anything, really, and whether any of it is true or false.”
Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck took to Twitter immediately following the news of Weinstein to share his disappointment. However, following this, actress Hilarie Burton confessed that Affleck had groped her breasts on TRL. Affleck then tweeted his apologies and admitted to acting inappropriately. But, unfortunately, it doesn’t end there. Annamarie Tendler, a makeup artist and the wife of comedian John Mulaney, took to twitter to claim that Affleck had “grabbed [her] ass” at a Golden Globes after party in 2014. TV writer Jen Statsky tweeted that she was also at this after party and multiple friends of hers had the same exact experience with Affleck.
Meryl Streep
Streep is another star who gave a statement covering her disgust with the claims against Weinstein. However, it’s hard to ignore that not only did she work with Woody Allen in the past, but that she gave a standing ovation to Roman Polanski for his Oscar win. One can argue that this isn’t enough to say that she necessarily supports either of these men, but when you look at actresses like Brie Larson, who refused to clap for Casey Affleck (another A-lister accused of sexual assault) for his Oscar win this past year, it does say something.
Cate Blanchett
Blanchett is another actress who gained notable success from starring in one of Allen’s movies; She won the Academy Award for her performance in Blue Jasmine just last year. While she has never outright supported Allen, she has taken the very neutral “on the fence” position. After being called out in Dylan Farrow’s letter, she stated,“It’s obviously been a long and painful situation for the family and I hope they find some sort of resolution and peace.”
Donald Trump
Where do I begin with this one? In an ironic but horrifying coincidence, exactly one year after the release of the Hollywood Access tape, in which he ever so famously admits to being forceful with women sexually in a non-consensual manner, Trump tells CNN that he’s “known [Weinstein] for a long time” and is “not at all surprised” by the reports. Donald Trump has had a long history of sexual assault claims. A list here and here recount every time Trump has been accused of rape, attempted rape, sexual assault, physical assault and other lewd or inappropriate advances towards women. Most famously, last year before the presidential election, an anonymous woman was going to come forward with her account that Trump had raped her at 13 years old (hmm, sound familiar?) However, Jane Doe dropped her case due to the large number of threats she received leading up to the trial.
(I would like to note that there were also a few stars who spoke out against Weinstein who have also worked with Allen (in these cases it was either before 2014, when his daughter Dylan Farrow fully came forward with her open letter about her abuse as a child, or the actor in question never gave a definitive opinion or statement on the matter), have been under fire for insensitive comments regarding sexual assault, or have been rumored to know about Weinstein’s wrongdoings but never came forward. These include: Matt Damon, Lena Dunham, Charlize Theron, Ewan McGregor, Colin Firth and Jimmy Fallon, to name a few.)
Some of you reading this might ask why any of this matters. They condemned Weinstein, isn’t that enough? Why bring their private or professional lives into this? Why do we always have to be so politically correct or sensitive?
I will tell you why. When we talk about sexual assault or other violence aimed at women, we are talking about human lives. We are talking about women who have been stripped of basic human decency, who have been robbed of something they will never get back, whose lives are, in most cases, changed for the worse. These types of sickening accounts have, for centuries, gone unpunished. They have been swept under carpets, paid off, or silenced. Men in power go unscathed, while the women who they have victimized have to live forever with the horrifying experience they have been subjected to. And, when they do come forward, they are asked, “What were you wearing? Did you do anything to provoke? Did you say no? Did you say yes? How much were you drinking? Why were you drinking? Why didn’t you come forward sooner?”
When big names use their platforms to speak out about misdoings or injustice, it is hard to deny just how powerful and important that is. But, when we see people call out some but not all, what does that say? That it’s okay some of the time? That it all depends? What kind of message do we send when we pick and choose which alleged sexual predators get a pass?
I will tell you: not a good one.