DIRTY Be it former presidents or top actors, men from all walks of life are facing serious charges Sex harassment claims, from Hollywood to Westminster
Bombshell sexual harassment claims against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein have unleashed a flood of similar allegations across the world.
After the British defence minister quit in a harassment scandal engulfing the country’s parliament, here is a recap of some of the major developments in the saga.
The New York Times published on October 5 a report containing accusations of sexual harassment Weinstein over three decades. The movie mogul issued an apology and announced he is taking leave. An avalanche of similar claims against him emerged over the following weeks, including from more than two dozen actresses such as Rosanna Arquette, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie. The New Yorker published new allegations on October 10, including from three women who say they were raped by Weinstein. He denied ever forcing himself on anyone. Police in New York, against nearly Los Angeles and London have opened criminal investigations.
Days the first claims emerged, Weinstein was fired as cochairman of his film studio.
On October 11, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) suspended Weinstein’s membership immediately.
He was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars, the following day.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron said he will revoke the prestigious Legion d’Honneur presented to Weinstein in 2012.
At the end of the month, the Producers Guild of America announced it has banned Weinstein for life. after
The #metoo hashtag debuted on Twitter midOctober and snowballed into an online movement as women across the world reveal their own experiences of sexual harassment.
It is used more than 1.7 million times in just five days, according to the French social media monitoring platform Visibrain.
The hashtag was retweeted by known figures such as Monica Lewinsky, at the centre of a sex scandal in the 1990s involving former US President Bill Clinton, but also by thousands of ordinary women across the world.
Other tags such as #balancetonporc (“Rat out your pig”) in French and #quellavoltache (“The time that”) in Italian too gained popularity online.
The campaign led to allegations against a former USA Gymnastics team doctor, a South African football chief and a French Islamic scholar.
Also, former US President George H.W. Bush has been accused of sexually harassing at least five women, with the latest incident being reported by Maine Senate ex-candidate Amanda Staples. BRITISH MINISTER
QUITS Following renewed scrutiny prompted by the Weinstein affair, claims of a culture of sexual harassment mounted in the British Parliament.
Prime Minister Theresa May called for tougher rules governing MPs’ conduct after a minister was accused of asking his secretary to buy sex toys. Some of the allegations are directed at the defence minister, Michael Fallon. He quit saying some of the claims are false.