Hollywood egos insult real victims of sex attacks

THE #MeToo protest movement, which encouraged women to post details of sexual harassment and assault online, went viral round the world.

They became known as the silence Breakers, because they supposedly shattered the wall of secrecy surrounding the behaviour of powerful predatory men.

now Time has awarded these silence Breakers its Person of the Year award. The magazine said the women’s ‘ collective anger has spurred immediate and shocking results: nearly every day, CEOs have been fired, moguls toppled, icons disgraced’.

Time has given a collective award before. In 2014, the Person of the Year went to the Ebola medics who risked their lives to save thousands of people infected with the virus in West africa.

In 2003, it was The american soldier for sacrifices in Iraq and afghanistan, where the U.s. lost 6,831 troops and a million were wounded.

so the magazine has a fine tradition of honouring the brave. But I can’t help wondering if its 2017 award has more to do with headline-grabbing opportunism than courage.

I have the greatest admiration for those who dare to speak out about genuine sexual abuse and assault.

But allegations of sexual abuse should end up in courts of law where attackers can be put on trial, not in the court of social media where spiteful and baseless claims can ruin an innocent man’s life. and isn’t there a danger that #MeToo has encouraged such a scramble to be part of the club that the real victims of sexual assault get forgotten?

Taylor swift is one of the brave ‘heroines’ gracing Time’s cover. a man grabbed her bottom, she says. That’s hardly comparable with the allegations of assault and rape made against harvey Weinstein, is it?

The hysteria started by #MeToo is encouraging women to think they have been victims of abuse — even if they never thought so before.

This week, Oscar-winner natalie Portman said she had reconsidered her initial reaction to the Weinstein scandal. at first, she felt lucky not to have been one of the abused. But then she realised she had ‘100 stories’ of sexual harassment to tell.

One was when a hollywood producer offered her a lift on his private jet. she was the only passenger and one bed was made up on the plane. ‘nothing happened. he took no for an answer. I was not assaulted,’ she says. surely that should have been that — end of story.

But then, as Time magazine has realised, the #MeToo bandwagon offers wonderful publicity. and, coincidentally, natalie Portman has a new movie coming out.