Oscar voters: Why stop at perv Harvey?
After kicking out Weinstein,
WHEN Hollywood’s most prestigious organization, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) — the group of nearly 7,000 actors, directors and other industry types who dole out the Oscars — expelled Harvey Weinstein on Oct. 14, audiences applauded. But by acting so swiftly, a mere nine days after The New York Times first reported allegations of sexual assault against the movie producer, the outfit now finds itself facing a dilemma.
Put simply: What to do with the rest of them?
“Harvey opened the floodgates,” said one male Academy member. “Now the Academy’s drowning in a tide of s--t. They don’t know what hit them.”
What hit, of course, were more alleged horror stories about so many other members: Kevin Spacey assaulting multiple young men, Dustin Hoffman sticking his hands in women’s pants, director Brett Ratner forcing himself on actresses. Ben Affleck seen on video groping a female host on “Total Request Live.” Screenwriter James Toback accused of sexual misdeeds by nearly 40 women. (As of this past Tuesday, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said it is considering criminal charges in five cases against Toback. He, Spacey, Hoffman and Ratner deny the claims against them.)
“[We] can’t regret [kicking out Harvey] because [we] didn’t really have a choice,” said one male member of AMPAS’ board of governors. “Some members were quite vehement. But [we] didn’t have time to really weigh out the repercussions.”
The emergency meeting to deal with Weinstein was conducted by the 54-member board of governors — which includes Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg and Laura Dern — after it received a Change.org petition with 100,000 signatures calling for his ouster.
“But they didn’t give themselves time to plot out how to deal with this going forward,” said one prominent female AMPAS member. “Kathleen Kennedy [producer of the ‘Star Wars’ series] and some other female governors panicked and felt compelled to act. They thought [Weinstein] could hurt AMPAS’ cred. Some of them did admit this was a slippery slope. But I don’t think they imagined how slippery. It’s definitely caused some problems and fights among the board members.”
AND it’s not just new allegations that are haunting the Academy. What to do about two of the most notorious accused sexual predators in Hollywood, Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski, who were charged years before the Weinstein stories broke? Or, for that matter, Casey Affleck — who last year won the Best Actor Oscar — and the two settled cases of sexual-harassment against him? (Cosby and Affleck deny the accusations.) Now, a barrage of petitions, complaints and letters are hitting Academy CEO Dawn Hudson and newly elected president John Bailey about these other men. Hudson had no comment, but her office reissued her original statement on the matter, which read in part: “[A] task force will finalize procedures for handling allega-
[We] can’t regret [kicking out Harvey] because [we] didn’t really have a choice . . . But [we] didn’t have time to really weigh out the repercussions. — Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences board of governors
tions of misconduct, assuring that we can address them fairly and expeditiously. This process will ultimately guide the board of governors in assessing if certain allegations warrant action regarding membership. Those procedures will be sent to you in the new year.”
Mused another AMPAS member, “Dawn may not know what they’re going to do next. That’s why the statement’s so vague. The board says they’re going to take action, but what action? It will have to be case by case. They must revisit and reinvent the rules of membership — and it’s gonna get nasty.”
To join AMPAS, you must work in the production of theatrically released films and be recommended by two members — unless you are already an Academy Award nominee, in which case you are automatically considered for inclusion.
Before Weinstein, there had only been one example of revoked membership: “Godfather” actor Carmine Caridi in 2004, who’d loaned out Academy screeners that wound up being sold.
Indie filmmaker Cameron Bossert filed a petition to the Academy in early November, asking it to bar Casey Affleck from presenting this year’s Best Actress trophy, as is the tradition with the reigning Best Actor.
“I just wanted to help hold the Academy responsible for their re-really broad statement, that ‘the era of willful ignorance and shameful complicity in workplace harassment is over,’ ” Bossert told The Post. “My petition wasn’t the best wayway of doing this, since the Affleck case was settled out of court already. But the Academy said they were taking it into consideration, and I stopped the petition at 20,000 signatures.”
Edward Lozzi, a veteran publicist who represents two of the more than 50 women who claim abuse by Bill Cosby, has written a letter to the Academy and asked AMPAS members to do the same, as he simultaneously wages a social-media campaign calling for Cosby’s ouster. “I asked . . . why people like that are still in when you’re sacking others. Most of the public doesn’t even know who Harvey Weinstein is. There’s been no response to my letter,” he said. “It would be nice for [the] Academy to let us know they are not totally apathetic.” Meanwhile, Marianne Barnard, a Santa Barbara, Calif., artist who’s the fifth woman to claim Polanski sexually assaulted her when she was underage, launched a Care2 petition on Oct. 18, demanding the Academy eject him. So far, no response. OME Academy members are fed up with the feet-dragging.
“None of [us] really know what the governors are thinking on this subject. They rarely tell us anything until they’ve decided. Then we have to read it in the trades or get a curt e-mail from Dawn, usually after it appears in the press. All we can do is roll our eyes,” said one longtime member. “I’m in favor of taking a very measured approach and not a knee-jerk reaction.”
Variety co-Editor-in-Chief Claudia Eller asked Hudson on Nov. 1 if the organization was “giving any thought” to the Casey Affleck situation.
Hudson replied, “Yes, we are. Of course we are. We’re giving thought to all of this.”
But insiders say thinking about it isn’t enough.
“They keep saying that,” said another female member. “But, right now, it’s easier to get someone an Academy Award than to get them expelled from the Academy.”
HOLLYWOOD is prepared to make a powerful statement tonight with actresses and actors choosing to wear black to the Golden Globes — a sign of solidarity with the women speaking out against sexual harassment in the entertainment industry.
But while the message is all about sisterhood and unity, that doesn’t mean there isn’t still competition to look the best.
“The conversations we’ve had in the past couple of weeks [are], ‘ How do I make myself stand out in the sea of [black on] the red carpet?’ ” explained stylist Melis Kuris, who has dressed celebrities including Aaron Paul, Ian Somerhalder and Keke Palmer for events on the red carpet.
“While [the message is] about solidarity, there’s still a feeling of wanting to get on the best-dressed list and wanting to get attention,” said fashion publicist Daniel Huipe. “It’s going to be more about accessorizing, textures and things like that, so that while making a statement, you make a statement for yourself.”
It’s up to folks in the fashion indus- try to somehow make every nominee, presenter and attendee look great — and stand out with a unique style — amid a sea of funereal black.
After all, no brand wants to fall victim to a lastminute switch because someone else is wearing a similar outfit — a move that made headlines in 2013 when Anne Hathaway swapped her Valentino gown for a Prada number after hearing that Amanda Seyfried’s look resembled her intended pick.
“I can’t afford to risk a stylist and a celebrity being upset at us, so we definitely make sure nothing goes out that is similar,” Antonio Estebán, co-founder of Style PR, who has worked with stylists for Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez, told The Post. “For the most part, anything that I bring in from all of my designers stands out on its own.
“There is one dress that I had to put away this year because a celebrity wanted a custom dress made and we used a previous dress as a reference,” he added. “We pulled out [the reference dress] so that no one would wear a similar style.”
TYPICALLY, designers look forward to awards season as a showcase for their spring lines. A few moments on the red carpet leads to priceless free advertising in the form of the show itself (some 20 million viewers watched the Globes last year) plus all the follow-up news clips and photos that run online and in print.
But given the lack of black in most designers’ spring collections, there just aren’t enough new dresses to go around.
To meet demand, some designers have resorted to remaking their original collections in black. “A lot of designers initially made dresses in the color palette that people normally gravitate to, and now they’re remaking the same dresses in black,” one fashion source revealed. “Christian Siriano, for example, remade a handful of dresses in black for clients that had already chosen their dresses in color and then decided they want to be part of this movement.”
Some stylists are pulling black dresses from past seasons — which, previously, would have been seen as a big faux pas. “Once we got word about the black, I made a call to all my designers and had them send me anything they had in black in
their archives,” Estebán said. “Some celebrities are OK with past seasons as long as it hasn’t been worn [for previous awards]. It depends on the caliber of the celebrity,” Estebán added. Then there are the stars who have deals that guarantee they’ll get something special designed just for them. “You know off the bat that Jennifer Lawrence [is] going to be in Dior,” fashion publicist Angel Cervantes said. (Lawrence is the well-paid face of the label’s 2018 cruise collection.) And while there seemingly isn’t pressure to participate in the blackout, it looks bad if one doesn’t. “It’s a genuine movement,” the fashion source added. “But it’s also kind of like, if you’re on it, be on it, and if you’re not, you need to have a pretty strong answer as to why.”
MAKING things even tougher for the fashion crowd, this year’s Globes are the earliest in January they’ve been in a decade. “We’re doing a custom gown for a nominee, and with her schedule and the holidays, we literally had five days to work on it,” one fashionhouse insider said. Still, there’s no guarantee that all that hard work will make it to the red carpet. “When we do custom jobs, it’s never guaranteed,” the fashion-house insider added. “I’m sure [the actress has] other custom options being made as well — as she should. She’s a nominee.” Meanwhile, the men are getting in on the action, too.
Stylist Ilaria Urbinati posted on Instagram that “YES, the men WILL be standing in solidarity with women on this wearing-all-black movement to protest against gender inequality at this year’s Golden Globes.” Among them will be her client Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
It may not seem like a big deal for guys to wear black, but a celebrity dresser for a top luxury label told The Post that it’s very chic for men to wear indigo and deep navy blue tuxes now — or a deep silvery gray — and several designers had to work over the holidays to change out these blue tuxedoes for black ones.
The monotonous color palette opens up opportunities for other, often lessappreciated areas to shine.
“It’s all about the accessories, the bags, the jewelry, the hair and makeup. That’s what’s going to have everybody stand apart from each other,” Estebán said, adding that black accessories and clear diamonds have been the pieces of choice this year.
One item you’ll see on most everyone: the Time’s Up pin. Reese Witherspoon and costume designer Ariane Phillips created it as part of the same-name sexual harassment prevention initiative launched this past Monday by Hollywood women such as Shonda Rhimes, Eva Longoria and Emma Stone.
But don’t get too used to the dark outlook — there seems to be a rainbow on the horizon.
“We’re already getting requests for the SAG Awards, Critics’ Choice, and Oscars,” Estebán revealed. “For the other shows they’re definitely going with
color.”