I was surprised by the strong reactions to the idea of a #GlobesBlackout. Last week, insiders claimed that actresses were organizing a silent protest for the Golden Globes: they would wear black to protest the culture of sexual harassment and assault in their industry. It’s being called a “silent protest” but I have every reason to believe that the red carpet will be the same as ever, in that actresses will just wear black and then they’ll use their red carpet interviews to talk about their nominations and/or #MeToo. I didn’t think it was the best or the worst idea – it just felt like the start of something interesting, in which will probably be a messy, feminist and hopefully educational Oscar season. Well, Rose McGowan doesn’t feel the same way. She tweeted this over the weekend:
Actresses, like Meryl Streep, who happily worked for The Pig Monster, are wearing black @GoldenGlobes in a silent protest. YOUR SILENCE is THE problem. You’ll accept a fake award breathlessly & affect no real change. I despise your hypocrisy. Maybe you should all wear Marchesa.
— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) December 16, 2017
I mean… I believe Rose. I believe Rose was assaulted and that Harvey Weinstein gaslighted her for years, he destroyed her career and he even paid for ex-Mossad agents to follow her around, contact her under false pretenses and pretend to befriend her. What he did to Rose was unconscionable, criminal, immoral and disgusting. But before three months ago, very few people knew any of that. Even Rose would never go on the record to any media outlet – because of her non-disclosure agreement – naming Harvey Weinstein as a rapist. So how would Meryl have known the extent of it?
Why is there this constant feeling of “believe women… unless those women say that they didn’t have any idea about Harvey Weinstein”? Meryl said she didn’t know about Harvey Weinstein and I believed her too. I mean, I’m perfectly happy to drag Meryl Streep for many things – she’s said stupid sh-t about the “art” of sexual predators, she’s called herself African, she said dumb sh-t about feminism – but I don’t understand dragging her for not knowing the extent of Weinstein’s behavior.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid.
Streep has been quite vocal about her love for guys like Weinstein and Roman Polanski. She’s garbage.
I agree 100% with you. Finally someone who sees her bs. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Rose McGowan defended a convicted pedophile director that she worked with. Victor salvia was convicted of raping children and when asked about it, rose said it was none of her business and that he was a kind and gentle man. She’s bashing other actresses but she’s just as bad.
So, people always bring this up with her, and it IS awful and hypocritical– but I wonder if she’d take the same stance now, or if that was a result of her internalization of being raped and feeling pressure to be silent about it. Like, she had first hand experience at her own rape being none of her business, so why would she feel like she could say anything about Salva?
The issue that people rightfully bring up is that Rose is VERY vocal about other women being silent on the subject of Harvey Weinstein while herself being silent when asked about Salva (which she is on Twitter, constantly).
@PPP She hasn’t since come out against Victor Salva, has she? She’s tweeting her thoughts about everything else, she could easily disavow her previous comments.
She is convinced that everyone in Hollywood knew she was raped and they worked with him anyway. Meryl probably believed, like most people (even posters here) that women were willingly trading sex for roles.
The power differential that inherently makes that non consensual wasn’t really understood by most people until we started hearing victims stories this fall.
That being said, Meryl is crazy problematic and any protest suggested by her is one I’d be wary of.
I like Rose but she’s had a social media problem for longer than this. She doesn’t think before she posts sometimes, she’s very impulsive and it can sometimes spoil the message.
Indeed! Streep is an older Kate Winslett – just more discreet.
100% garbage. feminist only when it benefits her
She sounds like J. K. Rowling most of the time.
Feminist when it suits them.
I can excuse Meryl for not speaking up because the level of terror these powerful men held, and hold, over every woman in Hollywood is infinite; but I cannot believe she didn’t know. She must have known something.
Calling people you don’t know “garbage” makes you really stink too.
Some of the criticism Meryl gets is valid criticism of her dealings with Roman Polanski, etc. and *some* of it is also coming from angry, desperate, or guilty conservatives and libertarians who are bothered by the fact that she’s one of ‘those liberal elites’ who criticized Trump and his supporters.
AMEN, she is GARBAGE
Yup.
I can believe Meryl didn’t know about HW. She’s always been too old for him and already accomplished by the time he started his company. She’s also a strong woman with a strong personality, the type HW didn’t mess with.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she had her own stories of harassments and abuse with directors, producers, and actors when she was starting out. She’s probably a victim too, just not of HW.
100%. She knew he was at least a bully of women and men and she called him God. So it was ok if he bullied people?
Rose is 100% right imho.
Co-signed. Rose is not wrong. She’s having an honest reaction to their token group action that will accomplish nothing.
But hey, they can all say they did something. ..
I hope everyone who signed the Polanski petition gets asked about it.
Hear, hear. I love that Emma Thompson saw the light and apologized for it. But it was so unbelievable. The guy admitted to drugging and raping a thirteen year old. It’s never been a debate as to whether it happened. How THAT was the side anyone wanted to be on baffles me.
You’re so right. He admitted to drugging and anally and vaginally raping a child. It disgusts me to even type this out. It is on record for all to see. Why is this not being asked to all those who signed his petition? There have been other accusations in the past month as well, but not sure why that’s not covered either.
Emma Thompson is one of the few bright lights when it comes to Hollywood actresses. Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep have become so disappointing.
Asia Argento also signed this petition, after her incident with Weinstein. This just shows you how complicate things are and how we won’t never understand the whole truth.
Didn’t she have a relationship with Weinstein after he raped her? You are right, it’s complicated and we may never understand it
Yes, people need to be much less quick to judge actresses for what they did or didn’t do when it comes to working with people like Weinstein and Polanski. The context has changed dramatically very recently, and everyone knows things now that were not common knowledge back then.
Thank you blaugrau.
Polanski was going through a reputation cleanse at the time, and he was very close to succeeding until Harvey made it front and center again so he could eliminate the competition for an award. The victim did not even want to prosecute, and she didn’t want it dragged out again.
However, I believe one of the forgotten things to remember is that RPswife, Sharon Tate was brutally murdered by Charles Manson when she was eight months pregnant. They cut the baby out of her stomach, so that was an added element of sympathy.
Actually, Magnoliarose, they did *not* cut out the baby. Susan Atkins admitted that she *wanted to*, even marked an X on her stomach, but “there wasn’t time to do it”. What happened was no less horrific, but that one bit of evil gruesomeness did not occur.
Not only was Polanski’s wife one of the Manson victim’s, but he himself is a Holocaust survivor. It’s not a shock that he’s been able to use these events to manipulate people into casting him as a sympathetic figure. Which he is NOT.
I stand corrected Imqrious2. Thank goodness for at least that. But like you said no less horrific.
Exactly Bridget. He milked his tragedies to get away with wrongdoing. It doesn’t make his misfortunes less terrible, but they certainly don’t excuse him for his crimes.
I hope they get asked about it, but I also remember the climate at the time and WHY so many signed. There was a period where Polanski was able to whitewash his crime – especially with the victim herself requesting that the whole thing just be done (which we obviously know now was because she didn’t want this single crime to define the rest of her life). And he basically had his powerful friends circulating the petition and requesting signatures (Emma Thompson said she signed because Mike Leigh requested her). All that to say, I get why people signed at the time. But I want people to be asked about it now so they can be directly confronted with EXACTLY what he did, and why he deserves to be thrown in jail and have his support stripped away.
Honestly uses Polanski’s *wive’s* trauma to justify his rape and sodomy of a 13 year old whose life was forever changed is despicable. It wasn’t a crime of passion due to trauma. He systematically groomed her over a few days and planned out every detail including how much drugs to give her and a specific location. He heard her cries of “no” and kept going. Both the Hollywood and European press smeared that 13 year old, it has always been disgraceful.
Survivors of trauma don’t get a free pass to rape children. Excuses were made for him because people like his movies and starring in them. Harrison Ford should be asked why he personally accepted and delivered Polanski’s Oscar.
It’s an incredibly sad and traumatic story, and I wouldn’t consider that him using his wife’s trauma. There’s no denying that Roman Polanski has an incredibly tragic story (Holocaust survivor and all) and there’s also no denying that he’s used it to manipulate people. He’s serially molested young girls. He’s an irredeemably bad person. But i also don’t hold those who signed the petition, 10 years ago, accountable for his actions. I simply want them to be faced with the truth. The age of information hasn’t been helpful for his attempts to whitewash his crimes.
I’m not sure how I feel about this when Rose was babbling on about how great a man who assaulted a child was. When asked about it she said she didn’t want to know anything about the situation – effectively becoming part of THAT problem.
So while Meryl may be a hypocrite – Rose is one as well in my book. It comes off as somewhat insincere when someone only seems to rally/care about issues that have effected them personally.
Exactly Erinn!! I understand that Rose is angry, and with good reason, but she also needs to check herself on a few things, one being her support of that pedophile director and the other being the way in which she seems to be ignorant of women of colour’s intersectional experiences of sexual assault and harassment.
The other thing people are now turning on Rose about is that she accepted a settlement.
Everyone accepted settlements and of course they would. Before these floodgates opened it was very clear that coming out with accusations in public would absolutely ruin you and that your career was in danger of being ruined anyways. A settlement allows you to insulate yourself from the hit your career is taking. It’s a pragmatic choice made in a hellish, impossible situation and I don’t fault anyone for it.
I get her taking the settlement, she was probably in shock, her career was basically destroyed…what I will shit on her for is her sticking up for a convicted pedophile.
I don’t know what she expects of meryl and other people in the business though. Was Meryl supposed to tell people about Harvey..I don’t get it. Were they supposed to go to the cops….her ex fiancé Robert Rodrigues knew what happened to her, she told him the night they met apparently and he still did movies for Harvey after
I don’t fault her for that – as long as she doesn’t complain about others doing it.
I take no issue with her accepting a settlement, she didn’t have any other viable options. But I think she needs to realize that he made a lot of women sign those settlements and those settlements are the reason women like Meryl didn’t know that he was sexually assaulting people. He was fantastic at keeping his most atrocious behavior quiet.
There is no reason to judge someone for accepting a settlement. However, Rose needs to get her house in order. Casting blame on others for something she has done herself is going to catch up with her. Hypocrisy could sink her AND this movement.
Unpopular opinion- Rose is tweeting without thinking, and this can read as hysterical and uninformed. On top of that, she is alienating potential allies. I get it. People have made some awful mistakes, but they should be allowed to learn from them and move forward.
ITA Erinn! Rose is as bad a hypocrite as Meryl. I don’t care for her self righteousness at all, as if she herself has never done anything complicit, when she has.
Streep might have been one of the very rare few actresses that weinstein didn’t dare treat in any other way than respectfully. The rest were powerless in his eyes and therefore fair game.
Yes, I suspect the same thing. And I guess she is a bit older than most of his victims.
Streep has been one of the most respected actresses in Hollywood for decades. When Weinstein was getting started he needed her way more than she needed him. He was respectful entirely out of self interest,
I think Meryl has been victim of a number of abusive behaviours at the beginning of her career, too. Her skills and talent brought her in the place where she is now. She earned respect and admiration in a very difficult working environment. Why didn’t she speak up 30 years ago, 10 years ago, 6 montha ago? Well, for the same reason Rose or Asia and all the others did not speak. They all waited years.
now, I don’t think she deserves to be insulted and being held accountable for someone else’s actions.
Rose is right in denouncing, but i’m not following her in bashing other women.
i agree with you midigo. i work in a male driven industry (manufacturing) and there are a few female senior managers who have been scrapping for 25 or 30 years to get where they are. most of them are pretty standoffish and are not eager to mentor younger women. they have a very “it is what it is” mentality b/c they had to endure a lot of BS to get where they are and it is a mix of not wanting to cultivate a threat for the job you fought tooth and nail for and/or thinking “well i had to put up with it, so can she” kind of thing. it is pretty bothersome to the 20-somethings in the office that don’t understand what it was like to get the honey-baby, get me a coffee, ass pinch treatment on top of being talked over, down to, ideas stolen, undercut, paid less etc…i don’t think that is meryl’s exact experience as she is revered in her industry but i see what women her age and status in my business are like and i think it is similar.
@Lizzie
Meryl lost the role of Jessica Lange in King Kong because Dino De Laurentiis, the producer, after her audition called her ‘too ugly and unsexy to act in a movie’ straight to her face.
Meryl has got the same crap as everyone else, more or less.
Agree with midigo. Additionally, the rage (which is totally understandsble) that is coming from Rose McGowan is starting to hurt her messaging. I think that she should keep this conversation going without raging against other women who have had different experiences than her.
I should have read further before posting above, I posted the same thing about her age, etc. and you all said it better.
The moment she said she didn’t know a child’s rhyme popped into my head, “Liar, liar, pants on fire.” If I heard the rumours way up in the northern reaches of this vast continent..I am sure, the Queen of the Oscars heard those ugly stories..she just turned a blind eye to the sordid tales.
I’m still struggling with this. I hear rumors about coworkers all the time. But I don’t know for sure and if you heard that Weinstein’ had attacked Rose (for example) would you go to rose and ask her about it? If you did, wouldn’t she have said no because of the non-disclosure agreement?
I’m just trying to figure out what we expected people to do when they heard the rumors.
I feel bad for her but I think she needs to back up a step. What did she expect people to do about the rumours they heard? Were they supposed to speak out? She never spoke out…and Weinstein assaulted lots of women after her. it’s an awful thing to go through and I feel horrible for her, but it’s not up to her how people protest abusers
So I posted about this yesterday-on Friday I went full disclosure to my boss about the people we work with and the experiences women have working at our company-as I said then, even bad ass boss bitches like me sometimes make the choices between transparency and status quo-for myself. Never for someone who is looking to me for protection or safety. It’s a matter of confirming the rumors. And personally, I feel accountability to speak because I have a platform and I am damn sure not going to let those people win. Yes, sometimes you have to look seriously at the rumors and try to figure out if there’s a pattern or a reason for that rumor. To me, that’s when we start being active participants and allies at the local level-when we proactively look for truth then stand for it.
To be clear, I’m not advocating for ruining anyone’s career over a unsubstantiated rumor. But the tumors about Harvey had hella legs that went past whispers-and so did the Lauer rumors, and so did Spacey, and so did many others. This is the turning point, this is when we take the rumors and the facts and we shine a light in every corridor of a banquet hall where someone cornered a women, every hotel room where obscenities occurred, on every piece of shit with a button to lock the door who abuses it to assault and harass women. Now is our time.
The rumors may have had legs, but I don’t begrudge anyone who didn’t act years ago because as LLGM said, this is the turning point. No one could have ever imagined that the Harvey story would have led to this tidal wave of men actually being held accountable. There was no reason to believe that that would ever happen.
Something definitely changed in the public consciousness in the last year or two that made the downfall of these powerful men possible. If this story had come out 5 years ago, I do not believe it would have led to this avalanche. Hell, the groping of Ambra Battilana was reported and nothing happened.
We all heard similar rumors and I know I still watched TWC movies, I still watched House of Cards, and I still watched Louie. They weren’t so obviously and clearly nonconsensual encounters until victims actually came out in force to tell their stories.
But hearing rumors from gossipy sources is not the same, and not as believable as hearing someone say, “This person did something to me” or “This person did something to a friend/loved one of mine.” Clearly, there are some people who will still sign petitions for someone, make public statements praising and defending him/discrediting his victims, or even vote him into office despite having that much information. But the Harvey Weinstein situation didn’t play out that way.
Which brings us to the other problem with the “I heard rumors, therefore all public figures must have known the truth” argument: Even if people heard rumors about Harvey Weinstein, exactly which rumors did you and Meryl hear? That he sexually assaulted/raped someone? Or were they just the “Harvey is another one of the ‘Johns’ for Hollywood’s pretty secret privileged thirsty hookers” rumors? Because that makes a difference too. One of the consequences of a society that values gossip over ethics and loves to not only stigmatize and dehumanize sex workers, but also loves to degrade women and girls in general through slut-shaming them is that certain lines get dangerously blurred. People don’t want to accept that, because people don’t want to look at the salacious gossip they enjoy with a more critical eye, but it’s the truth.
It was not just rumours, the Hollywood casting couch was openly discussed for years. Maureen O’Hara spoke up about the deplorable behaviour she was subjected to years ago..there was a rape trial that exposed the ugly behaviours at industry parties. Power and deplorable behaviour coexist..there are exceptions but nevertheless the stories were not whispered secrets they were published by the news media as for Kevin Spacy there were photos floating on the internet of him with young men. Weinstein was talked about..it was no secret he was a sexual predator. It was simply if you believed the women or the young men who stories were published and discounted by lawyers. There were no secrets it was whether or not you wanted to believe the victims.
That’s the thing, what if people legitimately didn’t know Harvey’s criminal behavior. I understand Rose’s rage. I believe her 100%. I also think she needs to channel that rage productively. Become an advocate for sexual assault victims. I am in no way blaming Rose at all. She has every right to feel as she does. Go after the people who knew about Harvey’s criminal behavior. Those are the ones who should feel the wrath.
Exactly. Meryl deserves serious criticism for other things and Rose is rightfully angry but I can’t side with her on this particular issue considering her own track record of working with a known sexual predator. Glass houses, stones and all that.
I don’t think women need to fit into the best shape to deal with this. I think Rose McGowan’s messy anger has a place in this conversation. She’s making people uncomfortable, she’s pushing the issue of complicity, she’s hypocritical and not always right. And that’s OK. She’s been through hell since childhood on and suffered enormously being a woman in Hollywood, watching her friends and loved ones continue a relationship with her rapist. This is one result of going through hell, and I think we as a society should take some time to recognize it, rather than criticize it.
Exactly PPP.
I don’t care how messy Rose is. She’s earned this moment of her rage.
This.
All of this ugliness is the outcome of systematic abuse and misogyny, not a separate entity. McGowan’s truths are not pretty ones on either end of the spectrum but being a poor coper Is not as great a crime as being an abusive monster.
PPP, that’s a very good statement and I tend to agree with you.
Yes, she has been through things a lot of people never come back from. There are probably a million things and feelings happening to her, but I am worried about her. This could spiral into something dark, and she tends to go dark, so I hope she finds her way out of this.
ITA completely.
People “knew” he was a bully, people knew he was a sleaze, people knew he slept around. Sadly that’s not uncommon in Hollywood so it was accepted, largely because – for better or worse – he was good at distributing and promoting movies and getting awards. Few knew the full extent of his behaviour. He had journalists on his payroll, lawyers, publicists, NDAs, freaking ex-spies towards the end …. his machine successfully hid the outright criminal behaviour for a long time. Anyone who says otherwise is rewriting history.
“Few knew the full extent of his behaviour. He had journalists on his payroll, lawyers, publicists, NDAs, freaking ex-spies towards the end …. his machine successfully hid the outright criminal behaviour for a long time. Anyone who says otherwise is rewriting history. ” True.
I feel sorry for all the horrible things done to rose but I disagree with her on this topic. She shouldn’t get to dictate how people want to protest regarding sexual assaults and harassment. It’s not just in the movie industry it is prevelant through out society. She alone doesn’t get to choose for us!
Agreed. I feel sorry for her and worry for her wellbeing. She has the right to be angry and the right to her opinion, but I disagree with her on this.
My heart aches for everything you’ve been through, Rose. You did not deserve to be raped and made to suffer for it in every way possible after the fact. Meryl Streep is the coolest woman at the cool table in Hollywood. She epitomizes everything that is wrong with boutique feminism today. She has the most punchable self-satisfaction imaginable.
But Meryl Streep did not do this to you, Rose.
+1
Rose has been through absolute hell but it’s rich of her to be throwing stones at other women from this particular glass house considering she worked with convicted child molester Victor Salva.
Also I have no love for Meryl’s many fuckups but I believe her when she says she didn’t know.
Well just as Streep has had so many “fuckups” – Rose can afford one now. Her reactions are based on pain rather than greed or stupidity like queen Streep.
Exactly.
I can’t agree with her on this. I do see where she’s coming from, but frankly the Victor Salva thing and her refusal to address it can’t just be brushed away like that.
Like I said, she’s accusing other women of being complicit with a predator while being complicit with a (different) predator herself – you don’t ‘earn’ a pass on that if that’s something you choose to speak out about.
The only thing that bugs me is wearing black as some sort of manufactured statement. Puhleeze. What kind of stretch is that? If it’s a statement needing to be made, wearing black isn’t it. That’s like saying, we can’t stand the meals you been cooking for us so we’ve all decided to use Cottenelle instead of Charmin.
I think Rose is entitled to her rage even when I’m cringing a bit over the grapeshot approach she’s taking.
And as for the rest of it and uncomfortable as it is, I think we’re all going to have to accept that self-preservation and hypocrisy make for a horrible Venn diagram in all this. I like to think that I would always speak up, always act – but would I? How much would I risk? I can’t answer that for every possible event until it happens.
I think Meryl and the rest probably had inklings and probably studiously avoided having more than inklings on the basis of plausible deniability. Is that a nice thought? No. Would I be any different? It would be nice to think that I would but I can’t say for sure, can I?
The core truth of it is that women are fucked over *whatever they do*. Let’s just hold to that.
“I like to think that I would always speak up, always act – but would I? How much would I risk?”
This!
I am an abuse/rape survivor, after my report I was completely dragged into the mud by everyone (police included) and it was hell, a species of hell that haunts people forever. I don’t know if I would risk another mess, full of people accusing or insulting me, to defend another victim. I might offer advice. But speak up publicly? Not sure.
I think people expect something more from Meryl Streep because she’s superfamous. Yet, compared to other male actors, are we sure she wouldn’t have suffered backlash or issues at her workplace after speaking up?
And even if her rage is misdirected (and her defence of a sexual abuser totally misguided), I cannot hold anything against Rose at the moment. I cannot even fathom how I’d feel in her shoes.
you two are so right on. silver unicorn – so sorry that was your experience.
Yes. I think we all need to imagine ourselves walking in another woman’s shoes at the moment. No easy, heroic options available to us, I’m afraid.
“I think we all need to imagine ourselves walking in another woman’s shoes at the moment. No easy, heroic options available to us, I’m afraid.”
Yes!! We are all over the internet saying ‘I wouldn’t have done that’, ‘I wouldn’t have shut up’ or ‘she shouldn’t have tweeted that’….
How awful is not to be believed… how awful is to look for validation or empathy and you find none…
If anything, I have done a lot of self-reflection in the last two months and got to the conclusion that to go against a man who is as powerful as Weinstein you need balls of solid rock. I’d probably have shut up for the eternity.
A lot of good points here. The fault is the men who didn’t stop him in a business where women have little power. Meryl could not have stopped him even if she knew.
Excellent points Sixer. I can’t say with complete certainty what I would or wouldn’t do so I can’t judge either woman too harshly.
I don’t know, Rose has every right to be angry but she’s letting the anger consume her and she’s attacking everyone associated with Weinstein. Harvey raped her, no one else. Meryl Streep most likely did not see this side of him as she was not a) an actress that was much younger than him b) and someone he could control. Now Meryl probably saw the bully and I think she commented on that but most never equate a bully with a rapist. Quentin Tarantino knew…Ben Affleck knew…Rose really needs to save her rage for Harvey Weinstein, The Weinstein Company and those that actually knew. If she wants to affect real change, I’m not sure Twitter rants is the way to go about it. Again, I know her pain better than most but attacking Meryl Streep, Alyssa Milano & others on Twitter… she’s now becoming the angry woman instead of someone who had been silenced for years about her rape. This isn’t my view, I’m just afraid it’s what’s going to happen. She’s getting frustrated. I thought wearing black to the Globes was the cheesiest thing the women could do & it misses the point. Rose could have explained it better, that’s all.
“Rose has every right to be angry but she’s letting the anger consume her”
Been there, done that. It’s really difficult to stop, as it is similar to the opening of a ‘dam’ in a certain way, putting the water back not an option and stopping the flow of the current is difficult to achieve too.
I speak from experience unfortunately. I worry about Rose.
@Purplehazeforever
Me too. I am really sorry to hear that and yes her behaviour is worrying me too. I hope she has some psychological or emotional support.
((hugs))
I think the anger has been controlling her for quite some time now. I hope she can find peace of mind in some way.
Becuse Meryl has supported known rapists. So nah I don’t believe HER. I also don’t believe a lot of the actresses that say they knew absolutely nothing. Because as weeks go by we see that they knew certain things.
I mean Rose has her own messy crap with rapists as well so on this specific instance I stand with her. On other things…not so much. But then I wonder how much is projection due to trauma and her own lack of ability to get any justice. Not saying it’s right but I’ve been thinking a lot about trauma
Trauma + the media spotlight is never going to go well.
Agreed. Trauma in the average sense can do a number on people
True
I suspect that Rose McGowan is dealing with a lot of self-loathing and she’s dealing with it on really unhealthy ways – namely, attacking other women who are doing the thing she did for a number of years: stay silent.
I don’t blame her for taking the settlement nor do I blame her for not identifying Weinstein until recently. But I do think she needs to deal with this trauma in a healthier way, for herself and for the movement she professes to care about. She’s not the only victim out there, and she’s going to burn a lot of bridges if she’s unable to perceive that reality.
I have too, Nicole. I have no conclusions. Trauma is different for each person, and they have an inner world that we aren’t privy to so we don’t know what their psychic pain is or how it hurts. I just think she is damaged.
About the other case with the boy who was abused I have had some thoughts. Sometimes victims are dismissive of other victims because they feel like no one cared about me so why should I care about anyone else. She has struggled with substance problems and emotional problems. RM was not like this before, and you can look at her old photos and see there is a before and after.
Idk. Just some thoughts.
There was a before and after for me as well but I also sought help. I went into therapy. Repeatedly, every time I slid back. I think I need too now with all these triggers. Rose is drowning.
Yea i mean i remember her from charmed. I’m just wondering how much introspection she has of her own hypocritical behavior towards others
@Purplehazeforever
This period has been draining and difficult. Self-care is essential, and I am glad that you recognize you need a little help. Rose needs this too the insight doesn’t seem to be there. October and November were tough and triggery, but self-care has helped me get to balance again.
@Nicole
I think there are some other issues at play with her and an element of self-absorption that a lot of actors have.
Rose also has her own issues with the whole N word comparison debacle so she also has a lot to work on.
yea she turned me all the way off on that one. I still think she’s brave for fighting this for decades but personally i am not a fan of her other behaviors.
Which is fine because there are no perfect victims and i can support her fight and think she is woefully obtuse about other things
@Nicole, I am enjoying your comments on this site.
Rose can hold this L she lost me after that tbh. Are you following Bossip or Baller Alert or TSR’s coverage of these scandals? The comments are very interesting!
I am not! Sadly my lack of time limits me to CB for now
Rose supported and starred in a movie in 2011 for a director, a convicted pedophile of a 12-year-old boy who he groomed and was a child actor in his movie. And when asked about that back then in 2011 when promoting the movie, she said he was a nice person and that it was none of her business. And while calling out alleged pedophiles like Woody, refuses to call out Victor Salva, nor will respond to tweets regarding her association with him.
So you don’t believe Meryl, then you shouldn’t believe Rose, who supported someone who is a convicted pedophile also and was and is a hypocrite about that in her refusal to respond.
Good on you rose!!! I have yet to hear streep apologize for calling weinstein a god. The only thing she cares about is her reputation and her career.
it made me sad when we stopped calling her – meryl streep, african
I understand her rage, but she is aiming at the wrong person. In all this mess, Meryl is most likely one of a handful of people who he treated better because she brought prestige to him and his projects like Judi Dench. She is known to be very professional and stable, so she isn’t the kind you go to her trailer for afternoons of boozy bitchy gossip.
She was forced to comment before this played out further, so she wasn’t in a position to say much and she isn’t really in the mix of everything. Supposedly she quietly warned other people, and I believe it. I just don’t think she should be the target if she wants to lash out at someone who is a hypocrite.
Rose was treated like dirt by so many men and betrayed. I think she has some emotional issues, so I don’t want to be too critical. This time has to be triggering and difficult.
?? You guys drag J. Law at every opportunity you get…
Age can sometimes be like weight: Shielding women from some types of misogynistic judgment even though it’s normally used against women in other ways by the patriarchy. Meryl looks good but she’s an older woman and society has some toxic ideas about sex, women, beauty, and violence. If she were a few decades younger, things would get a lot nastier and she’d automatically be dismissed as a liar when talking about how Weinstein did or didn’t treat her.
I actually find it even easier to believe Jennifer didn’t know about his rapes and sexual assaults tbh, since she hasn’t had decades of exposure to him.
That is because people hated J. Law from the get-go…I don’t like her, but I am not blaming her for anything.
Meryl hasn’t given a lot of interviews about him, and JLaw kept providing problematic transcripts dredging up the rumors that were fading away. I don’t care what she did or didn’t do, but since she isn’t a victim, there wasn’t a need for more ill-advised public statements. It was like feeding her worst critics what they needed to justify their disdain.
And yes some people don’t like her as is with any celebrity on this site. I was fond of her for awhile, but then I became indifferent, but she has become exhausting and hasn’t had a good movie in a very long time.
There is no consensus since different people respond on any given day. She’ll be ok in the end.
I know Rose is hurting like crazy but she has some nerve coming after other actresses like that because they did not do enough about ‘rumors of sexual abuse’ when SHE is on the record shrugging off the crimes CONVICTED PEDOPHILE.
I get what she’s saying.. silence won’t help things.. I’m also okay with them wearing black as a symbol but please also talk about it.. this is no time to do silent protests.
her anger is so deserved and she is correct to have deep disappointment to feel abandoned by other women in the industry who you once looked up. i’m so so sorry she has suffered and voice been so important for all women, not just those in hollywood but the problem with this type of incendiary rage is that you also risk being burned in the fire. it is so unfair to put the solution of a problem onto a victim but she is a prominent face of this movement and i would be sad for her if she spiraled out before she saw any real vindication. i honestly hope she is caring for herself and has people to care for her b/c she seems like she is coming a little unhinged. i had to stop following her twitter b/c it seemed like a 24 hour barrage of her attacking people. she has even started to turn on true allies and it felt like she is a little lost now that she got the platform she so desperately needed to talk about this very serious issue.
Rose can be as messy of a victim as she needs to be. Meryl’s something is better than nothing. Women don’t have to be perfect as victims or advocates. Just keep the conversation going please.
Streep isn’t the only woman Rose has gone off on for not being her perfect definition of righteousness. Thing is, Rose has no clue what personal stories those women might have. #MeToo and #YesAllWomen didn’t come from nowhere.
That was my problem when she went after Alyssa Milano for saying nice things about Georgina. Yes, Harvey bullied people into wearing Marchesa, but we’ve got no clue how he treated her in private.
I have a really hard time believing he was abusive to every single person he came in contact with except for his wife. His rage knew no bounds, no way she was spared from that.
I think there is bad blood between them from the Charmed days anyway.
Maybe this is why Uma Thurman hasn’t stated anything publicly. Perhaps Uma doesn’t want her rage to spiral out of control publicly. I hope Rose gets the help she needs cause she appears to be suffering serious PTSD. Rose deserves better than this.
I would probably react as Uma did…I always fear a freak-out when talking about my rape, so I tend to just keep it to myself when not around others who already know.
I acted like Rose after attempting to take my rapist to court. It didn’t work out and my rage was REAL. I took it out on everyone…I hope Rose gets help to overcome her anger, as much as it is understandable and expected.
I believe that Meryl didn’t know that Weinstein had raped people. I’m sure she knew he had harassed many people but not raped them. I also don’t think she knew he systemically destroyed careers in retalliation. I think very few people knew about the rapes. If we want to hold people accountable, it should be the rapists and their inner circles of agents, henchmen and enablers who truly knew.
Rose has every right to her rage, and she can express her opinions publicly in any way she chooses. She has been through hell. That said, I kind hope she will phone Streep now and/or Streep will phone her, so they can talk in person. I think that might lead to mutual understanding and healing. I get afraid that we women will be caught up in horizontal violence at each other, instead of keeping the focus on the patriarchy.
I don’t think she wants to talk, or to be part of a movement, she probably feels she can’t trust anybody (and with good reason).
Plus, maybe she feels like by attacking other actresses she can stop the situation from being forgotten by the media.
It’s not that I’m asking Rose to be perfect, nobody is perfect. I think we are all complicit to a certain degree when it comes to the issue of sexual harassment and sexual assault in society at large. So my asking for Rose McGowan to definitively apologize for not caring about Victor Salva victims is not me asking for perfection, it’s me asking her to acknowledge that she’s done the exact same thing that others that she’s angry that others have done. Self-awareness is a good thing, self-awareness makes you a better person. She does not respond when people confront her about it and it’s frustrating to me because I’m not asking her to apologize for it past one apology, which she has not made. Of course I still feel bad and I understand her rage and I’m fine with it mostly but I do think that her lashing out at every single person on twitter is not helping.
Ok I read Rose’s statement while I was drinking my coffee and I almost did a legit spit take. Girl went for the jugular! I don’t think Meryl didn’t know anything, I think she, like most, heard things and inklings and when it got too close chose to not hear any more and remain willfully ignorant.
She’s right. What kind of goal does wearing black actually reach?
They’re gonna lose all the trinkets and make up too, or will this be “I wear my mourning outfit but can you see the splendid Chopard I accessorize it with?” Can’t wrap my head around it.
You want to protest? Go full Brando, don’t show up, let some activist pick your trophy and have the mic and the stage.
That would be spectacular and different.
Hollywood actresses wearing black is the equivalent of it’s Crazy Hair Day for First Graders. THAT”S there sent protest? Who are they trying to fool at this point. They’ss be in a Woody Allen movie in a heartbeat.
I would love to see some women there in whatever color they want. THEN they can address why they aren’t like the rest of the sheep. So hypocritical.
Sad when you can’t stomach seeing see your favorite actresses anymore: Streep, Blanchett and Winslet for starters.
I feel for Rose, I think she’s been through a lot. I think all the women who delt with Harvey from Rose to Salma to Lupa have suffered and my heartbreaks for them. All of them, and while some experiences where more extreme no one owns trauma, their isn’t just one victim and I think Rose is getting a little out of line. (Although I live for anyone trashing Streep just because I can’t with the constant praise) but a lot of other women where trying to survive and maybe didn’t do the right thing but they all didn’t have streep power. Also look what he did to Judd who was commanding the biggest movies of the 90s.
I also want to point out that this isn’t just about Hollywood or Harvey this is happening to share croppers, waitresses, mortgage brokers and women of all industries. While I respect and feel for rose’s trauma and think the dress thing is just ok whatever, this entire thing isn’t about Rose.
I think she needs to get off Twitter and talk to someone about what she’s going through it seems like Twitter is retraimatizing her and it’s not healthy at this point.
Yes.
I can see Roses point, plus I truly think she’s getting triggered constantly over the course of the past months. Seriously, I had to take a break from #metoo because it started to stress the hell out of me and I have more distance than Rose to this. That’s enough to shove people over internal and external cliffs. And she has another point, Meryl (a major femal player in the industry) won’t held a speech if she isn’t benefiting from it or taking a risk industrywise.
Have to agree with Rose. Wearing black is nothing, especially to an awards show. Silence isn’t what needs to befall on them.
Rose has some real problems and it’s showing. She’s had a very rough time, but everything she says isn’t necessarily golden. I think she should be ignored rather than trashed when she says such things, she just isn’t well. Hopefully she has some people close to her who may be able to help her. Something is wrong and has been for a while.
To some degree keeping this going by being pissed at everyone, including complicit Ivankas, will have a negative impact on the whole “campaign”. Her being pissed because of a silent protest (which, I agree is stupid…you can wear pink and still talk about #metoo on the carpet), is drawing attention away from the whole thing. So they’re “solidarity” seems ill timed and thoughtlessly our together vs something more meaningful and impactful…organize THAT Rose McGowan.
‘Maybe you should all wear Marchesa.’
BOOM. 😅
—
The only reason I side-eye Meryl for “not knowing” about ol’ Harvey, is that Harvey Weinstein is an creep of such epic, piggish renown that EVERYONE knew who Tom Cruise was imitating at the end of Tropic Thunder. In this business, that is saying something.
Les Grossman was inspired by Scott Rudin, not Weinstein.
These various abuses and all these various levels of complicity and turning a blind eye to this activity is messy. Very, very messy and nuanced and much of it cannot be contained or mended with simple proclamations. This has been systematic and normalised behaviour forever.
Everyone needs to do better and we need to give each other the support for that. Black dresses? IMHO an oversimplification and more of a marketing initiative than a move towards transparency and healing.
Ah come on guys, you can’t speak out against male actors not speaking up or lying about their lack of knowledge and let Meryl away with it.
She is the Queen of Hollywood, and it is bull that she didn’t know a thing.
+1 !
THIS.
So why believe that Meryl had no idea but assume every guy that has ever worked with Harvey knew?
you can’t assume someones knowledge based on gender alone. this whole believe all women thing is destructive and divisive. women lie too ya know
Matt Damon has admitted to knowing the story about Gwyneth through Ben Affleck. Brad Pitt confirmed to the N.Y. Times that he confronted Weinstein over it. Quentin Tarantino has admitted that he knew Mira Sorvino’s experience and that of at least one other actress (assumed to be Uma Thurman.) I haven’t heard criticism of any other men.
There is no proof to the contrary for people like Meryl or Judi Dench or Colin Firth.
There’s one thing Matt, Ben, Brad and Quentin had in common though – they were all in relationships with Harvey’s victims (in Matt’s case, a close friend of Gwyneth’s then-bf Ben). They heard it firsthand, or near enough.
Neither Colin Firth nor Judi Dench afaik had that kind of connection to any of the victims, and even Emma Thompson, who has been criticising Harvey for years for being a bully, has stated she didn’t know. I’m rather reluctant to call people liars just because their experiences differ from those of the victims, it’s not as if they’re calling the victims liars.
While I can fully appreciate Rose’s anger at a sick, systemic culture of sexual harassment and assault, she should take a page out of Uma Thurman’s reaction book by keeping it in check so that she responds rather than reacts. It’s a much more powerful tool when you can temper out-of-control, vituperative rage with well thought out and calmly spoken words. Turning this whole exposé into a slanging match against other women is divisive – the point is to come together and all speak the same language, that harassing, threatening, violent, demeaning behaviour against women in ANY way, shape or form has to be eradicated from society PERIOD.
+ a million on what Rose said. Best zing ever was that “wear Marchesa” comment.
Who was blocking criminal charges from being filed against Weinstein? Was it someone in local law enforcement, or someone higher up, such as the FBI?
Rose McGowan and Corey Feldman are perfect examples of the Messy Victim. We turn away from the messiness, but it’s a result of the abuse they’ve suffered, so we really should try to overcome our instinctive distaste for it.
I think the Globes Blackout is better than nothing, but it’s almost nothing, that’s true. Boycotting these men, that would be a powerful statement. McGowan is entitled to her opinion, and other women are entitled to do less than she does, but it’s always going to be messy.
Says the woman who defends a convicted child rapist.
I would like to see Rose McGowan discuss this more then attacking everyone left and right!
Rose is starting to hurt the cause rather than help it. For one, Rose took MONEY from Weinstein. And she demanded money for her silence in the R.Farrow article. What was it again? $8 million? Weinstein refused and Rose went on the war path. Can we assume Rose would have continued to stay silent for another decade if she had received her millions? Secondly, insulting and attacking everybody and anybody the way she has does not do her or anyone else any good. She’s becoming a raving lunatic and in this case, women need STRONG, articulate, eloquent and brave voices that do not use words like the c-word, peppered with insults and curses, etc., etc. I understand Rose is angry. But Rose is quickly losing my support as she is hurting rather than helping victims.
Forget the money. He has paid out millions but no one knows about it or who they are. It feels to me like the public is looking for reasons to dismiss her instead of realizing this is what damage looks like. It isn’t pretty, and it is upsetting.
I just hope she gets help.
Meryl knows, she has always known. She’s warned her daughters about Weinstein, and you don’t get that high up in the Hollywood machine as a woman without sucking up to right men, protecting right men, and sacrificing a lot of personal integrity. Sad as it is.
Rumours about Meryl specifically knowing abound and everybody’s laughing at her feigned ignorance.
But Rose needs to slow down, and by slow down I mean ‘be smarter about this’. Someone pointed it out that #rosearmy is more ego-driven than anything else, and her conduct and using of misogynistic language is not a good look. I get her rage, from the bottom of my heart I do because I’ve felt the same, I bet most women have. But as unfortunate as it is, this rage will hurt the cause rather than fuel it. Because hollywood (and any powerful industry) men are an united front, defending each other, each standing to lose a lot if they break ranks, and they will absolutely adapt to angry people just throwing themselves at their row of shields.
I want to correct myself, my assessment of Meryl was too judgmental.
I get why she did what she did, because even with her talent and skill, a woman ending up where she is today would not have happened if she didn’t make concessions to men who control the industry. I don’t doubt that she was trespassed upon too. And after enduring so much, I kind of get her. I also believe that Meryl wasn’t harassed by Weinstein because Weinstein doesn’t seem to impose himself on people he needs to consolidate his own power. I believe he didn’t harass or abuse JLaw either, because JLaw was too much of a star, too established. It was always the up and coming actresses, crew, people who nobody would believe but instead be branded “gold diggers”.
But Weinstein is going down. Why not lend her power there? What does she have to lose? Or is her position in Hollywood even today still precarious enough that her speaking out would alienate money men and get her shunned or blacklisted?
Anyway, other people in this thread have been more articulate.
Good for Rose!!! Love her statement, let the women who have been silent all these years wear Marchesa!