Industry NewsOpinion

How Hollywood Helped Create, and Destroy, Time’s Up

Actresses rallied behind noble cause but stood down over Democratic ties

Producer Harvey Weinstein’s fall from grace handed Hollywood a golden opportunity.

Stars who preferred virtue signaling to hard work could now do something powerful, and necessary, for the culture.

Bring other Harvey Weinsteins to justice. And, as we learned in the weeks following Weinstein’s downfall, Hollywood is chock full of unsavory types.

And, sadly, so is the culture at large.

That’s why Time’s Up, which officially shuttered days ago, began in the first place. The nonprofit, sparked by lurid accusations against Weinstein, vowed to prevent other predators from getting away with their crimes. And, hopefully, send a message to men eager to prey on the fairer sex.

You’re next.

Actresses like Kerry Washington, Ashley Judd and Reese Witherspoon rallied to a cause that spread far beyond Tinsel Town. They helped pour millions into the startup, but some went a step further.

Witherspoon, Natalie Portman, Laura Dern, Alyssa Milano, Amy Schumer, Julianne Moore, Brie Larson, Jessica Chastain and Tessa Thompson joined its advisory board, eager to take a more hands-on approach to the group’s work.

Except those famous folks stood down when it mattered most.

Megyn Kelly Talks Takeaways from Interviewing Joe Biden Accuser Tara Reade

Time’s Up clammed up when Tara Reade accused then-presidential candidate Joe Biden in 2020 of sexually assaulting her decades earlier. Reade offered far more details of the alleged attack than other infamous accusers, but Time’s Up refused to rally to her cause.

The group also stayed low when two black women accused Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault.

They weren’t alone, though.

Not only did Hollywood, Inc. ignore both high-profile cases Time’s Up celebrity members did nothing behind the scenes to make the group step in on the accusers’ behalf.

Why? It’s obvious.

RELATED: HOLLYWOOD’S TIME’S UP SCANDAL IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Biden and Fairfax are Democrats. Time’s Up repeatedly took public stands against President Donald Trump, a Republican. The organization also demanded Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh step down in 2018 due to flimsy allegations against his character.

Time’s Up, in just a short time, became another wing of the Democratic Party. Sexual abusers are Republicans, Democrats and independents. Their victims also span the political spectrum.

By turning the group into a partisan outfit, the Time’s Up team damaged its own cause. That lead to the betrayal that sunk it, once and for all.

Time's Up leader resigns amid criticism over work with Cuomo

The group’s leadership initially offered a tepid statement on sexual accusations leveled at Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2019. Its leaders later collaborated with the New York Democrat on ways to defend him against those charges.

It’s hard to script a more shocking betrayal of the group’s mission.

This reporter reached out to several Time’s Up celebrities to get their take on the reversal. Were they outraged by the group’s ties to Cuomo? Had they done what they could behind the scenes to fight that partnership?

None responded to my queries.

Hollywood stars likely knew about Weinstein’s predatory behavior for decades but stayed silent. Years later, starlets refused to hold Time’s Up accountable for an unacceptable mission creep.

The Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund will continue, but the group’s namesake is no more. The Time’s up brand, though, will be forever tarnished by partisanship and silence.

And Hollywood has only itself to blame.

6 Comments

  1. Amazingly no one responded even anonymously to this article. Hollywood still has many predators working in their executive suites.

  2. Keep in mind, Harvey Weinstein was also a Democrat. Hollywood only cares about protecting Democrats as long as their name isn’t Harvey Weinstein.

  3. What is never mentioned is physical appearance. How good looking or how ugly people are. This is really at the core of our problems today. That and intelligence, although that can be mimicked/faked much easier for a fair amount of time. Remember that “liberalism” is just intellectualism for stupid people.

  4. The other partisan fact about Time’s Up was the timing.
    The crimes were known for years, maybe decades but were kept silent until the Clintons had lost their White House aspirations.

  5. Kind of reminds me of the League of Nations. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939 no one thought to inform the league in the hope of it doing anything. It had been a dead man standing for quite a while. Sounds like the same thing happened here.

  6. You think they’re silent in the face of DECMOCRATS being at the DISHING OUT end of sexual harassment! We will hear even LESS is the accuser is MALE AND the accused is FEMALE, and as much as Hollywood seems to cater to homosexuals(who happen to be the most loyal demographic to Democrats), we will even LESS if the accuser AND accused are the same sex.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button