Women Launch "Time's Up" Initiative to Combat Sexual Harassment in Hollywood

BY Sarah MurphyPublished Jan 2, 2018

A staggering number of Hollywood's biggest female stars have signed an open letter advocating support for working women following the barrage sexual misconduct allegations in the last few months.
 
An open letter was published by the New York Times yesterday (January 1), signed by more than 1,000 women, including Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, Julianne Moore, Kerry Washington, Laverne Cox, Margot Robbie, Melissa McCarthy, Meryl Streep, Mindy Kaling, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shonda Rhimes, Taraji P. Henson and Viola Davis.
 
The signees have launched an initiative by the name of Time's Up, and the letter hears the women pledging to fight for "real accountability and consequences" in the film and television industries, as well as other fields of work.
 
It takes aim at the "systemic gender-inequality and imbalance of power" that has fostered "an environment that is ripe for abuse and harassment against women."
 
The signees call for "a significant increase of women in positions of leadership and power across industries," and are demanding "equal representation of women of color, immigrant women, and lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women, whose experiences are often significantly worse than their white, cisgender, straight peers."
 
The letter closes with a call to action to put an end to the male-dominated workplace, declaring: "Time's up on this impenetrable monopoly."
 
A legal defense fund has been set up here in conjunction with Time's Up and the National Women's Law Center, and it has already reached $13.7 million USD of it's $15 million goal. Major contributors include signees like Rhimes, Streep and Witherspoon, as well as Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift and Steven Spielberg.
 
Emma Stone, Broad City's Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, Master of None's Lena Waithe, Janelle Monae, Jennifer Lopez, Amy Poehler, Emma Watson, Greta Gerwig, Halle Berry, Keira Knightley, Naomi Watts, Rashida Jones, Scarlett Johansson, Susan Sarandon and Zoe Saldana are also among the list of signatures.
 
Previously outspoken figures like Amber Tamblyn, Ashley Judd, Blake Lively, Constance Wu, Ellen Page, Emmy Rossum, Gwyneth Paltrow and Salma Hayek also lent their names to the letter.
 
Read the full letter and view the complete list of signatures here.
 

Latest Coverage