Hollywood’s women fight back
Led by Oprah Winfrey, Hollywood’s women made a powerful statement against sexual abuse at the Golden Globe awards recently
ASEA of black ebbed and flowed down the red carpet in a ceremony that looked more like the world’s most dazzling funeral procession than one of Hollywood’s most glamorous nights of the year.
But the mood at the 2018 Golden Globe awards was by no means sombre. It was, instead, triumphant.
Hollywood’s most powerful women joined forces in a black-drenched effort to make more than a gimmicky statement.
It signalled the dawn of a new era – and unsurprisingly, Oprah Winfrey led the charge.
Dressed head-to-toe in black in a simple, elegant velvet gown, the TV and business mogul (63) stepped on stage to thunderous applause to accept the Cecil B DeMille Award for lifetime achievement – the first ever black woman to do so.
Her speech, which had many in tears and on their feet, was the highlight of the event.
“For too long, women haven’t been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men,” she said, her powerful voice rich with emotion. “But their time is up. Their time is up.”
She took it beyond the glitz and glamour of Tinseltown. “But it’s not just a story affecting the entertainment industry. It’s one that transcends any culture, geography, race, religion, politics or workplace.
“So I want tonight to express gratitude to all the women who’ve endured years of abuse and assault because they, like my mother, had children to feed and bills to pay and dreams to pursue. They’re the women whose names we’ll never know.” Plenty among the audience wept at her words as she continued. “I want all the girls watching here to know that a new day is on the horizon. “And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say ‘Me too’ again.”
THE Golden Globes usually signals the start of several glitzy award ceremonies aimed at recognising stars on the small and silver screen. But this year was markedly different. The stream of black gowns, worn in support of
the #TimesUp movement against sexual harassment, had an ingenious result on the red carpet, Vox’s culture writer Constance Grady pointed out.
It prompted interviewers to ask, “Why are you wearing black?” rather than “Who are you wearing?”, opening up the floor for the stars to launch into their talking points.
“The time is now for us to do the work that will make women and all people more safe and more equal in their workplaces and in their lives,” actress America Ferrera (33) said. She was one of the women to come forward last year with her harrowing tale of sexual assault when she was nine years old.
One of the #TimesUp co-founders, Natalie Portman (36), took aim at the laughable industry inequality with a simple comment as she presented the best director award.
“And here are the all-male nominees,” she said coolly, to whoops and cheers.
One of the evening’s first awards went to a female force to be reckoned with– Nicole Kidman. The Big Little Lies star accepted the trophy for best actress in a TV movie or limited series, her first Golden Globe, in honour of “the power of women”.
“This character that I played [represents something that is the centre of our conversation right now: abuse,” the 50-year-old said.
In the show she plays a lawyer who desperately tries to hide the fact she’s violently abused by her husband.
“I do believe, and I hope, we can elicit change through the stories we tell and the way we tell them. Let’s keep the conversation alive. Let’s do it.”
Other stars making statements included Meryl Streep (68), who walked the red carpet hand-in-hand with justice activist Ai-jen Poo (43).
“It [sexual abuse] is everywhere and we want to fix that,” Streep told reporters. “We feel sort of emboldened in this particular moment to stand together in a thick black line dividing then from now.” Michelle Williams (37) also brought a special date, activist Tarana Burke (44), who founded the Me Too campaign in 2006 after hearing the story of a little girl who’d been abused by her mother’s boyfriend. In the wake of the Weinstein scandal, Charmed actress Alyssa Milano (45) started using the #MeToo hashtag and the campaign caught fire on social media.
EVEN the host of the evening, Seth Meyers, didn’t shy away from what would otherwise have been the elephant in the opulent ballroom. He dived right in with shots at disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein, whose horrifying abuse of women in the industry led to the various protests and campaigns.
“It’s 2018,” began the host of Late Night with Seth Meyers’ impressive, fiery monologue. “Marijuana’s finally allowed, and sexual harassment finally isn’t.
“It’s been years since a white man has been this nervous in Hollywood,” he continued. “For the male nominees in the room tonight, this will be the first time in three months it won’t be terrifying to hear your name read out loud.”
Then he turned directly to Weinstein, who was first exposed by actress Rose McGowan. “Don’t worry, he’ll be back in 20 years when he becomes the first person to be booed at the annual In Memoriam.”
The audience groaned as his name was mentioned. Not missing a beat, Seth finished: “It will sound like that.”
However, the #TimesUp, black-clad show of camaraderie wasn’t received well by everyone – most surprisingly also McGowan. In a series of tweets last year, she said Weinstein had raped her – and Amazon Studios had turned a blind eye to her complaints.
In response to a fan who tweeted that no one should forget that McGowan was at the forefront of the movement for change, the former Charmed actress tweeted: “And not one of those fancy people wearing black to honour our rapes would have lifted a finger had it not been so.
“I have no time for Hollywood fakery, but you I love.”
KEVIN SPACEY
The once-lauded actor’s house of cards tumbled down when he faced a flood of sexual assault accusations. In a Buzzfeed News exposé, actor Anthony Rapp accused the American Beauty star of making sexual advances toward him when he was just 14.
In his response, Spacey (58) took to Twitter to say he didn’t remember that night – and used the opportunity to come out as gay. He also denied he was a paedophile and refused to comment on other allegations of abuse.
Netflix, who produces hit series House of Cards, axed him from the show and all his scenes in Ridley Scott’s new movie, All the Money in the World, were cut just six weeks shy of its release. In the wake of the scandal Spacey also sought “treatment” at The Meadows rehab clinic in Arizona, US, which treats sex addiction among other things.