The same Hollywood that allowed Harvey Weinstein to prey on starlets snapped into action after the producer’s actions finally got exposed in the press.
Some of the industry’s players, including actress Kerry Washington, Ashley Judd, Eva Longoria and Reese Witherspoon, created the “Time’s Up” legal fund and movement.
The former vowed to defend women against predators past and present. The latter? It trained much of its fire power on President Donald Trump.
They cited sexual assault allegations against Trump prior to his election, as well as “uncovered” audio where Trump described grabbing women by their genitals as proof he needed to go.
All the while they mourned how the country’s potentially First Husband, Bill Clinton, wouldn’t be returning to the White House.
Yes, that Bill Clinton.
Nor would the woman who ran defense for Bill Clinton, burying sexual abuse scandals rather than “believing all women.”
Yes, that Hillary Clinton.
That Hollywood hypocrisy is happening again, and this time at a nuclear-grade level.
Former Joe Biden staffer Tara Reade says the future vice president (and potential president) sexually assaulted her in 1993. Reade claims she’s tried to tell the story previously but ran into resistance.
Her recent attempt to recruit the Time’s Up legal group failed when it refused her plea on a technicality.
Guess who else is ignoring her case?
Hollywood, Inc.
The stars who have previously protested President Trump’s “war on women” at both marches and Sundance Film Festival rallies reads like a who’s who of Hollywood: Katy Perry, America Ferrera, Chelsea Handler, Jessica Chastain, Zendaya, Melissa Benoist, Charlize Theron, Aisha Tyler, Kristen Stewart, John Legend, Joshua Jackson, Laura Dern and Jennifer Beals.
“Charmed” alum Alyssa Milano transformed her career from actress to activist in the Trump era, with her specific focus on women’s issues.
Are any publicly supporting Reade in her moment of need?
Former Joe Biden staffer Tara Reade says the future vice president (and potential president) sexually assaulted her in 1993. Reade claims she’s tried to tell the story previously but ran into resistance.
Her recent attempt to recruit the Time’s Up legal group failed when it refused her plea on a technicality.
Guess who else is ignoring her case?
Hollywood, Inc.
The stars who have previously protested President Trump’s “war on women” at both marches and Sundance Film Festival rallies reads like a who’s who of Hollywood: Katy Perry, America Ferrera, Chelsea Handler, Jessica Chastain, Zendaya, Melissa Benoist, Charlize Theron, Aisha Tyler, Kristen Stewart, John Legend, Joshua Jackson, Laura Dern and Jennifer Beals.
“Charmed” alum Alyssa Milano transformed her career from actress to activist in the Trump era, with her specific focus on women’s issues.
Are any publicly supporting Reade in her moment of need?
No, not yet, anyway. The abuse allegation story is at least a week old, so it’s not like they haven’t heard about the charges.
The Reade allegations are all over social media, and a smattering of news outlets have covered them – albeit with less vigor than if the politician in question had an R affixed to his name.
Other august outlets have essentially looked the other way. The Reade story isn’t an outlier, either. Several other women have accused Biden of inappropriate touching, too.
This week, Milano decried Sen. Bernie Sanders for staying in the race, throwing her support once more behind Biden.
What about Reade’s claims? Milano isn’t talking. And she’s not alone.
The industry that cried, “Believe All Women” now wants us to, “Change the Subject.” Or, more accurately, “This Woman Could Hurt Our Last Chance to Beat Trump So We’re Standing Down.”
That puts their silence into the proper perspective.
That silence is even more telling, more damning, given its plethora of platforms from which it can speak. Blogs. News articles. Podcasts. Social media. Interviews.
And it’s not the first time this hypocrisy rose up from Tinsel Town in the post-Weinstein era.
Where was Hollywood when not one but two women accused Virginia’s Lt. Governor, Justin Fairfax, of sexual assault? Did they march to remove him from office? Did stars create a hashtag campaign against him? Did they “believe the women” in question?
To be fair, Milano sent out a Tweet saying Fairfax should step down. Did she do more than that, or was a single Tweet her cover?
Fairfax recently said he plans to run for Governor. Will Hollywood rise up to stop that from happening?
Don’t hold your breath. Remember, he’s a Democrat.
Do we need to even summon the Brett Kavanaugh saga to reveal more raging hypocrisy? Stars like Amy Schumer literally got themselves arrested protesting Kavanaugh’s ascension to the Supreme Court, clinging to the flimsiest of assault charges to smite a Republican president’s nominee.
They believed accuser Christine Blasey Ford when even the woman’s own father had doubts about her story.
To her credit, the actress who helped bring Weinstein down isn’t staying silent on Biden. Rose McGowan deployed her Twitter account to mock journalists for not covering the assault allegations and failing to ask Biden during numerous press interviews about them.
At least she’s consistent. Her peers can’t say the same.
Perhaps we should have taken Handler at her word.
In 2018 she told The New York Times that the #MeToo movement was “a complete referendum on Donald Trump being elected to the presidency.”
So it’s not about protecting women, apparently?
Got it.
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