Actresses ready for Golden Globes blackout
FEW could remember the names of the films and TV shows nominated for Golden Globe Awards last night.
Instead all Hollywood’s best and brightest were speaking about were hashtags like #MeToo and #TimesUp and wearing black.
Actress Andrea Riseborough began the activism early, wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan #TimesUp at the annual W Magazine It Girls luncheon in Beverly Hills.
And the star said she was planning to wear a similar-coloured outfit at the awards last night.
Ms Riseborough is one of many backing the movement to wear black at the ceremony, in solidarity with victims of sexual harassment and assault in the wake of the Hollywood scandal, which began with allegations against Harvey Weinstein.
Others include Nicole Kidman and Emma Watson. Ms Riseborough, 36, who recently appeared in dark comedy The Death Of Stalin, said that the campaign was the ‘beginning of something exciting and we’re not going to let the door close’.
She added that the initiatives that have spread through the entertainment industry since the allegations levelled at Weinstein ‘would not be a five-minute wonder’ that would end when the film award season ends.
Ms Riseborough said: ‘It’s very difficult because you’re trying to do your job and you don’t always have the courage at the time to communicate it or the tools to deal with whatever the harassment is.’
And she is sure that the #TimesUp movement, an organisation funded by stars including Reese Witherspoon and Meryl Streep, will help women who haven’t felt strong enough to come forward on their own.
‘Women have always been stronger together,’ Ms Riseborough said. Last night Ms Witherspoon encouraged viewers at home to join in with the activism on the red carpet. Writing on multiple social media platforms, the Legally Blonde star wrote: ‘TODAY is a Big Day!! JOIN US! #TIMESUP on abuse, harassment, and the imbalance of power. Not just in Hollywood, but every industry!
‘We stand together. Today, join us: Wear Black! Post pictures! Tag us!’
She also posted a video, in which she was joined by fellow actresses including Brie Larson, Kerry Washington and Diana Ross’s daughter Tracee Ellis Ross, who announced that their campaign has already raised $15million (€12.5million).
Three nights ago, at the W Magazine’s pre-Golden Globes party in LA, Carlow actress Saoirse Ronan, 23, who is nominated for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her role in Lady Bird, stepped out in a black suit and T-shirt.