Wednesday, October 11, 2017

What 33 Hollywood stars have said about the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment and assault allegations

Asia Argento

Asia Argento

Asia Argento tweeted a scene she directed inspired by her alleged experience with Weinstein:

Rose McGowan

Rose McGowan

Rose McGowan has tweeted the following:

McGowan has since called for The Weinstein Company's board to resign.

Emmy Rossum

Emmy Rossum

Emmy Rossum tweeted the following:

Amber Tamblyn

Amber Tamblyn

Amber Tamblyn has tweeted the following:

Barack Obama

Barack Obama

“Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein,” Obama said in a statement provided to the media.

“Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status. We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories. And we all need to build a culture — including by empowering our girls and teaching our boys decency and respect — so we can make such behavior less prevalent in the future.”

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman

“As I’ve stated before publicly, I support and applaud all women and these women who speak out against any abuse and misuse of power — be it domestic violence or sexual harassment in the workforce,” Nicole Kidman said in a statement to the media. “We need to eradicate this behavior.”

Josh Gad

Josh Gad

Josh Gad tweeted the following:

Judd Apatow

Judd Apatow

Judd Apatow tweeted:

Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Jesse Tyler Ferguson tweeted:

Olivia Wilde

Olivia Wilde

Olivia Wilde tweeted the following:

Seth Rogen

Seth Rogen

Seth Rogen tweeted:

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton's communications director tweeted a statement on behalf of Clinton:

Terry Crews

Terry Crews

Terry Crews spoke out by sharing his personal experience being sexually harassed in a string of tweets:

Susan Sarandon

Susan Sarandon

Susan Sarandon tweeted:

Patricia Arquette

Patricia Arquette

Patricia Arquette tweeted the following:

Micheal Keaton

Micheal Keaton

Michael Keaton tweeted: 

Jessica Chastain

Jessica Chastain

Jessica Chastain tweeted the following:

Mark Ruffalo

Mark Ruffalo

Mark Ruffalo tweeted:

America Ferrera

America Ferrera

America Ferrera tweeted:

Julianne Moore

Julianne Moore

Julianne Moore tweeted the following:

Lin Manuel Miranda

Lin Manuel Miranda

Lin Manuel Miranda tweeted:

Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow

Paltrow said she herself had been a victim of Weintein's harassment in an article published by the New York Times Tuesday.

Emboldened by the growing number of women coming forward with allegations against the producer, Paltrow decided to reveal her own experience with Weinstein.

“This way of treating women ends now,” Paltrow said.

Andy Serkis

Andy Serkis

“I think there's no excuse for a culture that allows for any kind of bullying or coercion or predatory behavior, and I think we are behoove not just in this industry, but across all industries, to be vocal about that and to encourage and help and support people who are brave enough to come out,” Serkis told Business Insider. “We have to challenge people who are in positions of authority if they behave badly.”

Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck posted the following statement on Facebook:

I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over decades. The additional allegations of assault that I read this morning made me sick. This is completely unacceptable, and I find myself asking what I can do to make sure this doesn’t happen to others. We need to do better at protecting our sisters, friends, co-workers and daughters. We must support those who come forward, condemn this type of behavior when we see it and help ensure there are more women in positions of power.

Judi Dench

Judi Dench

In a statement to Newsweek Judi Dench said:

Whilst there is no doubt that Harvey Weinstein has helped and championed my film career for the past 20 years, I was completely unaware of these offenses which are, of course, horrifying, and I offer my sympathy to those who have suffered, and wholehearted support to those who have spoken out.

Christian Slater

Christian Slater

Christian Slater posted the following statement on Twitter:

Women who come forward to speak out against abusers do so at great cost and risk to themselves and it’s hard to believe that they are met with shaming statements, disbelief, and blame. Industries and workplaces are often complicit in the protection of abusers. Confronting a painful truth is easily passed over in favor of excuses and denial. The brave actions of the women who went on the record and the journalists that shared their truth have powerfully challenged that paradigm. No woman should fear for her safety in the workplace. No man should feel immune from the consequences of his actions. Accountability is essential to destroy the dangerous and persistent idea that some people are above the law.

It can sometimes be easy for a man to live without challenging his entitled and distorted ideas about right and wrong, especially when he experiences success. it’s worth it to become educated and informed (it’s a lifelong process). Most people don’t have a choice when it comes to following the law. Having a society and a justice system that discriminate based on skin color, gender, power, and socioeconomic status isn’t a free pass for those on the easier end of it. It’s a challenge to recognize our privilege and use our platform to even the playing field.

George Clooney

George Clooney

Clooney told the Daily Beast:

Harvey’s admitted to it, and it’s indefensible. I’ve known Harvey for 20 years. He gave me my first big break as an actor in films on From Dusk Till Dawn, he gave me my first big break as a director with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. We’ve had dinners, we’ve been on location together, we’ve had arguments. But I can tell you that I’ve never seen any of this behavior—ever.

Glenn Close

Glenn Close

In a statement to the Times, Glenn Close said:

I’m sitting here, deeply upset, acknowledging to myself that, yes, for many years, I have been aware of the vague rumors that Harvey Weinstein had a pattern of behaving inappropriately around women. Harvey has always been decent to me, but now that the rumors are being substantiated, I feel angry and darkly sad.

I’m angry, not just at him and the conspiracy of silence around his actions, but also that the 'casting couch' phenomenon, so to speak, is still a reality in our business and in the world: the horrible pressure, the awful expectation put on a woman when a powerful, egotistical, entitled bully expects sexual favors in exchange for a job.

Ours is an industry in which very few actors are indispensable and women are cast in far fewer roles than men, so the stakes are higher for women and make them more vulnerable to the manipulations of a predator. I applaud the monumental courage of the women who have spoken up. I hope that their stories and the reportage that gave them their voices represents a tipping point, that more stories will be told and that change will follow.

The changes must be both institutional and personal. Men and women, in positions of power, must create a work environment in which people, whose jobs depend on them, feel safe to report threatening and inappropriate behavior, like that reported in the Times. No one should be coerced into trading personal dignity for professional success. I feel the time is long and tragically overdue for all of us in the industry, women and men, to unite — calmly and dispassionately — and create a new culture of respect, equality and empowerment, where bullies and their enablers are no longer allowed to prosper.

James Gunn

James Gunn

James Gunn posted this lengthy open letter about "sexual predators" in the entertainment industry on Facebook:

On Sexual Predators in Hollywood (and the World)

I was on my way to a party Friday night with three close female friends, when the subject of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuse allegations come up. They started having a casual conversation about the many times they’ve been sexually harassed in their lives.

One of them talked about how her manager at a restaurant pushed her to the ground, kissing her.

Another discussed a boss at a nightclub who fired her when she wouldn’t go out with him.

Another talked about a film producer who said he could get her roles if she “treated him well”.

And then another round of stories started, of these women being grabbed and molested and abused by bosses and managers and agents. And then another round started: endless incidents of these women being subject to the repeatedly unwanted sexual advances of men, ranging from your every day entitled Hollywood scumbucket douchebag to attempted rape. As I said, to them this conversation was casual – they’ve gotten used to sexual harassment being a part of their everyday lives – but to me it was horrifying.

As we’ve discovered lately with the numerous sexual allegations against Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Roger Ailes, and Bill O’Reilly, sexual predators have no political affiliation. They are Republicans, Democrats, Communists, Nazis, Green Party, Whigs, and whatever-the-hell-else is out there. But they also know no status or occupation.

Yesterday, I tweeted that if even 1/10 of the stories about Harvey Weinstein are true, and I believe they are, then good f--king riddance. F--k him and everyone who enabled him to get away with such behavior. The tweets got a lot of news coverage and I got a lot of responses. One of the primary responses was that sexual predation is a terrible problem... for Hollywood.

Well, yes, that’s true. Sexual predation is rife in Hollywood. But it’s also rife EVERYWHERE. As evinced by the stories I heard Friday night, some men – probably a much larger percentage than any of us want to be true – try to coerce women (or children or other men) sexually, and they will try and do so when they get any small amount of power. They are movie stars and network heads and world famous bloggers – but they are also fast food restaurant managers and used car salesmen and, as I learned as a child (and tried to speak out and was shut down), priests.

And they are EVERYWHERE. And they are killing us. When someone is coerced sexually it not only affects that person, but the lives of those around that person, like rows of dominoes falling in every direction. It demolishes trust and comfort in all of society. And evil men are doing this everywhere, every day, in every occupation, and every type of household, all over the world.

F--K. THEM. ALL.

I am hoping with recent truths coming to light, that their reign is coming to an end, in Hollywood, and everywhere. I promise to do everything I personally can to stop it, and I applaud and have deep love for every human being who breaks the silence.

Love you all,

James

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence

“I was deeply disturbed to hear the news about Harvey Weinstein’s behavior,” Jennifer Lawrence said in a statement to Variety.

“I worked with Harvey five years ago and I did not experience any form of harassment personally, nor did I know about any of these allegations. This kind of abuse is inexcusable and absolutely upsetting,” Lawrence said.

The actress added, “My heart goes out to all of the women affected by these gross actions. And I want to thank them for their bravery to come forward.”

Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet

In a statement to Variety, Winslet said:

The fact that these women are starting to speak out about the gross misconduct of one of our most important and well regarded film producers, is incredibly brave and has been deeply shocking to hear. The way Harvey Weinstein has treated these vulnerable, talented young women is NOT the way women should ever EVER deem to be acceptable or commonplace in ANY workplace.

I have no doubt that for these women this time has been, and continues to be extremely traumatic. I fully embrace and salute their profound courage, and I unequivocally support this level of very necessary exposure of someone who has behaved in reprehensible and disgusting ways. His behaviour is without question disgraceful and appalling and very, very wrong. I had hoped that these kind of stories were just made up rumours, maybe we have all been naïve. And it makes me so angry. There must be ‘no tolerance’ of this degrading, vile treatment of women in ANY workplace anywhere in the world.

Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep

In a statement to HuffPost Meryl Streep said:

The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported. The intrepid women who raised their voices to expose this abuse are our heroes.

One thing can be clarified. Not everybody knew. Harvey supported the work fiercely, was exasperating but respectful with me in our working relationship, and with many others with whom he worked professionally. I didn’t know about these other offenses: I did not know about his financial settlements with actresses and colleagues; I did not know about his having meetings in his hotel room, his bathroom, or other inappropriate, coercive acts. And If everybody knew, I don’t believe that all the investigative reporters in the entertainment and the hard news media would have neglected for decades to write about it.

The behavior is inexcusable, but the abuse of power familiar. Each brave voice that is raised, heard and credited by our watchdog media will ultimately change the game.


Source: Business Insider India