Rose McGowan is not impressed by Hollywood's anti-sexual harassment protest at the 2018 Golden Globes. On Sunday, Jan. 7, television and movie actors and actresses walked the red carpet and accepted their trophies wearing black gowns and suits to stand with victims of sexual assault.
Some stars like Best Performance by an Actress nominee Meryl Streep even brought activists to the event to draw attention to the problem that millions of women suffer every day.
On a tweet, McGowan criticized the silent protest, accusing the attendees of hypocrisy for not speaking up against the systemic sexual harassment in the entertainment industry early on.
"And not one of those fancy people wearing black to honor our rapes would have lifted a finger had it not been so," she posted on the morning of Jan. 8. "I have no time for Hollywood fakery."
Her tweet was a response to a statement made by fellow actress Asia Argento, who wanted to remind everyone that it was McGowan who was first to expose her assailant. It was McGowan who lit the fire that started a global movement that empowers victims of sexual assault to speak up.
No one should forget that you were the first one who broke the silence. Anyone who tries to diminish your work is a troll and an enemy of the movement. You gave me the courage to speak out. I am on your side until I die.
— Asia Argento (@AsiaArgento) January 7, 2018
An All-Black Affair
The presenters and the attendees of the 2018 Golden Globes had no issues addressing the elephant in the room. From event host, Seth Meyers, taking a jab at movie producer Harvey Weinstein and award-winning actor Kevin Spacey in his opening monologue to Natalie Portman calling out the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for failing to recognize female directors, the event was a reflection of the social change currently sweeping the entertainment industry.
In the past three months, Hollywood has seen important figures fall from grace after being accused of sexual harassment. Weinstein himself, the founder of Miramax and The Weinstein Co., had a 30-year history of abuse that lists popular actors like Gwyneth Paltrow and Salma Hayek as his victims. When he was exposed, it was as if no one was surprised because his pattern of sexual harassment was considered an open secret.
Last month, in a now-deleted tweet, McGowan called out celebrities who knew about the movie producer's misconduct but continued to work with him. She specifically named Streep who worked with Weinstein on several movies in the past.
In a statement, the award-winning actress and 2018 Golden Globes nominee claimed that she had no knowledge about the abuses until Weinstein was exposed by an explosive report from The New York Times.
On Sunday, Streep invited Ai-jen Poo, the director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, to the awards ceremony held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in California. The actress and the activist both wore black gowns.
"We want to fix that and we feel sort of emboldened in this particular moment to stand together in a thick black line," Streep told Ryan Seacrest.
The protest against sexual harassment in Hollywood is expected to continue throughout the awards season.
