The avalanche of stories about predatory behavior in Hollywood and beyond continues. In the past few days alone reports have come to light about news anchor Charlie Rose, Disney head and Pixar co-founder John Lasseter, and Congressman John Conyers. They, of course, join the dozens of other celebrities and public figures who have been publicly accused of sexual harassment or misconduct in recent weeks.
As more accounts of harassment and abuse surface, individuals and organizations are fighting back against rape culture, Fox VP Claire Schmidt, The Swedish Film Institute, Women In Animation, and Raising Films among them.
We’ve compiled some of the latest stories on sexual abuse in and out of show business. Keep in mind that this list is far from comprehensive — there are plenty of other excellent pieces out there.
“Sexual harassment on set is ‘the status quo,’ says Zoe Kazan” (Darby Maloney, The Frame)
“‘When these allegations started coming out against Harvey Weinstein, who I have no personal experience with … everyone had heard. I have to say, everyone knows. Louis C.K., Kevin Spacey — these are names that, for years, we’ve heard whispers and stories. You want to look away with some of them. I certainly did with Louis C.K. But you hear them. When I hear Netflix say, We’re not going to be in business with Kevin Spacey anymore. I love Netflix. I watch them almost daily. It really ruffles my feathers because I think, if you didn’t want to be in business with a sexual predator then you should have never hired him in the first place. The thing that has changed is that suddenly it has become verboten to be in business with people who are being accused of sexual predatory behavior. That’s the only thing that’s changed. I’m not saying they should keep working with these people, I just find the sanctimoniousness with which they’re washing their hands of this situation very hypocritical.’”
“Natalie Portman Speaks Out On Hollywood’s Sexual Harassment Problem” (Radhika Seth, Vogue UK)
“‘When I heard everything coming out, I was like, wow, I’m so lucky that I haven’t had this,’ said Portman. ‘And then, on reflection, I was like, okay, definitely never been assaulted, definitely not, but I’ve had discrimination or harassment on almost everything I’ve ever worked on in some way. I went from thinking I don’t have a story to thinking, oh wait, I have 100 stories. And I think a lot of people are having these reckonings with themselves, of things that we just took for granted as like, this is part of the process.’
Among the events it has caused her to re-evaluate is an instance when a producer invited her to fly with him and his company on a private plane. ‘I showed up and it was just the two of us, and one bed was made on the plane. Nothing happened, I was not assaulted. I said: This doesn’t make me feel comfortable, and that was respected. But that was super not okay, you know? That was really unacceptable and manipulative and could have been — I was scared, you know?’”
“John Lasseter, a Pixar Founder, Takes Leave After ‘Missteps’” (Brooks Barnes, The New York Times)
“‘The breakneck speed at which journalists have been naming the next perpetrator renders some reporting irresponsible,’ [writing partners Rashida Jones and Will McCormack] said. ‘We did not leave Pixar because of unwanted advances. That is untrue. We parted ways because of creative and, more importantly, philosophical differences. There is so much talent at Pixar, and we remain enormous fans of their films,’ they continued. ‘However, it is also a culture where women and people of color do not have an equal creative voice.’
Ms. Jones and Mr. McCormack concluded the statement by saying: “We encourage Pixar to be leaders in bolstering, hiring, and promoting more diverse and female storytellers and leaders. We hope we can encourage all those who have felt like their voices could not be heard in the past to feel empowered.’”
“Harvey Weinstein’s Secret Settlements” (Ronan Farrow, The New Yorker)
“In one case, in the nineteen-nineties, Bob Weinstein, who co-founded the film studio Miramax with his brother, paid two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, roughly six hundred thousand dollars today, to be split between two female employees in England who accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault. The funds came from Bob Weinstein’s personal bank account — a move that helped conceal the payment from executives at Miramax and its parent company, Disney, as well as from Harvey Weinstein’s spouse.”
“How Hollywood abusers might use the Mel Gibson redemption playbook to rise again” (Constance Grady, Vox)
“It’s extremely likely that at least some of the men who are currently in disgrace will be following the Mel Gibson playbook in the near future. They’ll disappear under the radar for a few years. And then around, say, 2023, they’ll start to quietly put out feelers. Louis C.K. might perform at a prestigious club. Harvey Weinstein might produce an indie art film with his own money. Kevin Spacey might take a supporting role in a small but buzzed-about movie.
People will start to murmur about whether they might be staging a comeback. Cultural commentators will write think pieces. The men will give a somber interview or two about how things have been painful for them but they’ve really used this time to learn and grow. And then the Oscar campaigns will start.”
“Why Men Aren’t Funny” (Lindy West, The New York Times)
“One of comedy’s defining pathologies, alongside literal pathologies like narcissism and self-loathing, is its swaggering certainty that it is part of the political vanguard, while upholding one of the most rigidly patriarchal hierarchies of any art form. Straight male comedians, bookers and club owners have always been the gatekeepers of upward mobility in stand-up, an industry where ‘women aren’t funny’ was considered conventional wisdom until just a few years ago.
The solution isn’t more solemn acknowledgments from powerful male comedians. We have those. The solution is putting people in positions of power who are not male, not straight, not cisgender, not white. This is not taking something away unfairly — it is restoring opportunities that have been historically withheld.”
“The Hidden Cost of Sexual Misconduct” (Lauren Duca, Teen Vogue)
“It is significant that many of the people who have been accused of predatory behavior are storytellers. Across TV and film, government, and the news, their perspectives have guided and directed our collective understanding of the world. (Of course, this raises the question: Is there an industry left that isn’t hard for women and other minorities? The problem isn’t job-specific — it’s embedded in society itself.) But in looking at the #MeToo movement as a loss of perspectives, we should be most concerned with the legion of people — more often than not women — who have been silenced in more ways than the obvious. This is true for each of the people who have come forward and the countless more who have not.”
“A ceiling not of glass, but of grabbing hands” (Jean Hannah Edelstein, The Guardian)
“My foot was in the door. But once inside, I had to drink glasses of wine with men old enough to be my father. Outings that were billed as ‘meetings’ turned into dates where they admitted they hadn’t read the work I’d handed in to them, or suggested that I do nude photoshoots to advance my career (yes, it did happen). It felt like grooming, and it wasn’t happening to my male peers, who were getting great assignments and bylines. I didn’t want whatever those drinks were leading to, so I did not follow up on these men’s offers of ‘further conversation.’
Now those men have returned, or the ghosts of them: with every new revelation of a prominent journalist’s abuse of women and power, I’m reminded of how they pretended to care about my work and then made me feel like an object. Like a failure.
Like a pathetic little girl who was too fragile and unsophisticated to pass through the gauntlet of gropes and leers that lined my path to career advancement.”
“Ending Open Secrets — Both Inside and Outside the Newsroom” (Mary Louise Kelly, The Atlantic)
“In fairness, [James Toback] never laid a finger on me. But looking back, two thoughts strike me. One, that my encounter might have ended differently had I been younger and more naive, or simply hungrier to make it big in Hollywood. The second thing is that it never occurred to me — a journalist with two decades of reporting under my belt — that this might be a story. That there might be a pattern of behavior worth investigating. Seeing Toback’s face loom above that headline, I had occasion to regret my lack of imagination.
This is a decisive moment for women — and also for the journalists telling their stories. On the one hand, it’s thanks to journalists that allegations of revolting behavior by Toback, Harvey Weinstein, and so many others have now come to light. Hats off. On the other hand, it has taken us — all of us in the media — far too long.”
“The Glaring Blind Spot of the ‘Me Too’ Movement” (Gillian B. White, The Atlantic)
“Intentionally or not, [Lena] Dunham’s initial call to scrutinize [Aurora] Perrineau, a biracial actress, but not [Murray] Miller, [the former “Girls” writer accused of raping Perrineau,] fed into an implicit message that believability, sympathy, and public rage are reserved only for certain women. And those women are rarely women of color. Dunham’s actions caused the writer Zinzi Clemmons to resign from Lenny Letter, the feminist newsletter founded by Dunham. ‘It is time for women of color — black women in particular — to divest from Lena Dunham,’ Clemmons wrote in a note about why she was leaving the publication, chronicling her issues with Dunham. ‘She cannot have our words if she cannot respect us.’ …
This latest incident — Dunham’s use of her huge platform to cast doubt on the account of a woman of color — brings into focus a familiar and troubling status quo: American culture has long had a preferred archetype for victims it deems worthy of rallying around — and rarely is that person a black or brown woman. It also raises legitimate questions about whether movements like #MeToo, for all its current momentum, will bring about change that will truly help all women. And further, the episode raises difficult questions about who deserves redemption, and who gets to decide. None of this is easy to unpack, not least of all when the standards seem different for both accusers and victims of different backgrounds.”
“Trump all but endorses GOP’s Moore despite sex accusations” (Zeke Miller, The Associated Press)
“Trump, who won the election despite facing more than a dozen accusations of sexual misconduct himself, dismissed questions from reporters about backing a Republican accused of sexual assault over a man who is a Democrat. Trump pointed to Moore’s assertions that he did nothing wrong.
‘Roy Moore denies it, that’s all I can say,’ Trump said. In fact, he repeated 10 times in a 5-minute session outside the White House that the GOP candidate has denied any wrongdoing … ‘Forty years is a long time,’ Trump said, questioning why it took so long for Moore’s accusers to come forward.”
