Lending strength to victims
Cheryl Hines co-directs actors in new PSA.
Tim Daly, Cheryl Hines, Alyssa Milano and Wanda Sykes want you to #KeepTellingPeople. In a PSA out Tuesday, the actors lead a team from The Creative Coalition to shine a spotlight on the wave of allegations of sexual harassment and assault rocking Hollywood, the media, politics and beyond. Building on the viral #MeToo movement, the PSA will be shared online at thecreativecoalition.org and keeptellingpeople.org and encourages viewers to speak out about sexual misconduct they’ve experienced and witnessed. “There’s a cultural change happening right now, and I think it’s important for people to pay attention and to support it,” Hines says. The Curb Your Enthusiasm actress and coalition board member co-directed the PSA with Daly, the organization’s president and Madam Secretary star. In the minute-long clip, actors in white against a matching white background encourage people to speak up about sexual harassment and assault. The list of actors involved includes Milano, who recently questioned Matt Damon’s comments on sexual harassment, and Sykes, who criticized Kevin Spacey for trying to “hide under the rainbow” when he chose to come out in his apology to accuser Anthony Rapp. The PSA concludes with a montage of the stars holding signs requesting viewers #KeepTellingPeople. The coalition, a non-profit advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment community, has partnered with Birds Nest Foundation and Storio Creative and will work with other non-profits aiming to eliminate sexual harassment, including the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). “We are determined to use our unique platform that is like a megaphone to make sure that this issue does not become yesterday’s news and that we can be a catalyst to engender change,” says Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk. Hines says shooting the PSA felt like “a normal day of business,” but she noticed a change when people were reading the script. “You could absolutely tell the people that had experienced something like this, because it really touched them and you could hear a pin drop in the studio,” she says. “It was really, really interesting and very telling.” Hines is one of many who have experienced harassment and stresses it’s not solely a problem in Hollywood, where allegations of misconduct continue to mount. Since The New York Times’ October report detailing decades of sexual harassment allegedly inflicted by producer Harvey Weinstein, accusers have come forward against others prominent figures including Spacey, Dustin Hoffman and director Brett Ratner. Hines says that when she was asked to meet a director in his hotel room, she took friends along. “I texted them the hotel room and I told the director my friends were waiting right outside, so I understand it,” she says. “I understand how easily it escalates and how powerless someone can feel in that moment.” She hopes a chorus surrounding the #KeepTellingPeople movement will comfort victims. “I hope that anybody who has experienced sexual harassment or sexual assault will know that they are not alone and know that they are supported by a lot of people in a very genuine way.”