The great red carpet blackout
A-list prepare to parade Weinstein backlash at all-black Golden Globes
IT IS traditionally the place for Hollywood stars to wow in their most colourful couture gowns.
But at tonight’s Golden Globe awards, the red carpet will turn black as A-listers wear sombre ensembles in protest at Tinseltown’s culture of sexual harassment.
Meryl Streep, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon are among those set to don all-black outfits as a reaction to the allegations against Hollywood powerhouses such as shamed mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Eva Longoria said the blackout was ‘a meaningful show of female comradeship’, adding: ‘For years we’ve sold these awards show with our gowns, our beautiful faces and glamour… this time the industry can’t expect us to get up and twirl around.’
But actress Rose McGowan – who was one of the first to accuse Weinstein of rape, a charge he vehemently denies – called the protest meaningless, saying: ‘Your silence is the problem.’
She has branded actresses who happily worked for Weinstein – who until his downfall was frequently pictured with attractive A-listers – as ‘hypocrites’.
McGowan and others have called for a boycott of awards shows instead.
One Hollywood producer said: ‘It all smacks of attention-seeking and it will be interminable as this will happen on red carpet after red carpet from now until the Oscars. Is changing the colour of your frock really going to change sexism in Hollywood? It’s classic self-indulgence.’
Fashion journalist Robin Givhan added that the protest made it appear as if ‘the proper response to sexual harassment is to change one’s attire’.
But stores in Los Angeles have sold out of black dresses while designers including Chanel, Ralph Lauren and Armani have rushed to dye or remake colourful frocks for the ceremony.
New York designer Naeem Khan said he had to remake a gold dress for Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks in black, ‘which was a big challenge because everything is done by hand’.
Men are also being encouraged to swap their traditional white dress shirts for black – a move British actor Gary Oldman, up for best actor for portraying Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, says he will support.
At the ceremony, Netflix’s Royal drama The Crown is tipped to win best dramatic TV series, while other Brits up for awards include director Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk, Judi Dench for Victoria And Abdul, and Helen Mirren for The Leisure Seeker.