Before the 75th Golden Globes even began on Sunday night, the red carpet filled with actresses devoted to reminding viewers of a universal mission far more important than who would take home an award. With many stars dressed in black in protest of sexual harassment, the more somber tone of the night became clear when several actresses appeared with activists as their dates. The New York Times reports that attendees Amy Poehler, Susan Sarandon, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, Emma Watson, Michelle Williams and Shailene Woodley were all accompanied by various kinds of activists. Such decisions reflect the new action plan Time’s Up, aka Hollywood women’s latest effort to highlight marginalized women’s experiences with sexual harassment.
The eight activists participating in the night’s celebration released a statement about what their attendance meant, saying, “We believe we are nearing a tipping point in transforming the culture of violence in the countries where we live and work. It’s a moment to transform both the written and unwritten rules that devalue the lives and experiences of women.”
Among the activists was senior director of the organization Girls for Gender Equality and original founder of the #MeToo movement Tarana Burke. Burke finally spilled about her involvement with the Globes earlier on Sunday and appeared on the red carpet alongside Best Actress in a Drama nominee Williams.
People have been asking me for the last week about my involvement with #TIMESUP and I have been silent because we were working behind the scenes on this action and other things. Now we can talk about it. https://t.co/Vr5815EjJA
— Tarana (@TaranaBurke) January 7, 2018
While I’m in awe of these women linking together Hollywood and the real world to fight sexual harassment, what’s particularly amazing is Burke’s iconic presence at the Globes. Burke originally coined the phrase #MeToo in 2006, literally more than a decade before it became one of the most common hashtags uttered across the internet. As she previously told the Times, her work lies in making sure survivors are heard, saying, “I think it is selfish for me to try to frame Me Too as something that I own…This is about survivors.”
Although many actresses have credited Burke with the phrase’s creation, it’s safe to say that her name is occasionally lost in the shuffle. Williams made it clear on the red carpet that Burke and her inspirational work is why actresses have joined together to make a powerful statement that goes beyond their own industry.
I love that every time Seacrest tried to talk about Michelle Williams’ #GoldenGlobes nom, she kept turning it back to Tarana Burke, her date who started the #MeToo movement. Then she said this: pic.twitter.com/8dUBEoS5BZ
— Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) January 7, 2018
When host Ryan Seacrest congratulated Williams on her nomination for her work in All the Money in the World, the actress thanked him but quickly turned the focus back to Burke. “The most exciting thing is [that] I thought I would have to raise my daughter to learn how to protect herself in a dangerous world,” she said, “and I think because of the work that Tarana has done and the work that I’m learning how to do, we actually have the opportunity to hand our children a different world. I am moved beyond measure to be standing next to this woman.”
As reported by PEOPLE, Burke used her moment in the spotlight wisely, telling Seacrest, “This is something I started out of necessity and something my community needed…this moment is so powerful because there is collaboration between these two worlds that people don’t put together.”
Hear that? That is the sound of women ready to get an important message across. We salute the actresses and activists coming together to promote underlying issues in workplaces across the globe.