Zendaya, Viola Davis and Tamron Hall are among the Black women who are speaking out against Harvey Weinstein. (Wikipedia/People/Entertainment Weekly/Lwp Kommunikáció)
More celebrity women are speaking out in response to the sexual assault and rape accusations against former film executive Harvey Weinstein. Viola Davis, Zendaya, Tamron Hall and Michelle Obama have each issued statements about the Miramax co-founder.
“The predator wants your silence. It feeds their power, entitlement AND they want it to feed your shame,” Davis, who has detailed how sexual assault has affected her life, said in a statement to Variety. “Our bodies are not the ‘spoils of war’… a trophy to be collected to fuel your ego. It’s OURS!!! …To the predators, Weinstein, the stranger, the relative, the boyfriend…. I say to you, ‘You can choose your sin but you don’t get to choose the consequences.’ To the victims…. I see you. I believe you… and I’m listening.”
Tamron Hall, who like Davis has lent her voice to support women who have been abused and raped, said she got in touch with Weinstein as soon as she heard about the damning New York Times report. She told The Huffington Post Monday, Oct. 10. that she had a “take no prisoners” approach to speaking to Weinstein and was “horrified” by the news.
“I spent the summer talking to young girls raped on their college campus,” Hall said. “They don’t have money or access. They were yelling into the wind with no one listening. I hope today they are comforted by [actresses] Ashley [Judd], Rose [McGown], [journalist] Lauren [Sivan], [actresses] Asia [Argento], and Mira [Sorvino] [some of Weinstein’s accusers], women who from the outside have everything but inside behind the closed doors suffered in silence,” Hall said.
In a statement issued with her husband, former first lady Michelle Obama expressed disgust with the allegations. Her older daughter, Malia Obama, previously had an internship with The Weinstein Company before starting college.
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“Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein,” Barack Obama said in the statement after Weinstein was fired from TWC. “Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status.”
Zendaya, who has interviewed and collaborated with Michelle Obama in the past, has applauded women for going public about their experiences.
As a young woman in this industry, I am deeply grateful to all the courageous women coming forward and speaking their truth…
— Zendaya (@Zendaya) October 11, 2017
…and I truly thank you for making the first huge steps towards assuring that this industry be safer for young actresses like myself.
— Zendaya (@Zendaya) October 11, 2017
It’s not just women who have spoken out, either.
“Creed” director Ryan Coolger said he had no knowledge of Weinstein’s behavior but felt compelled to speak out because the exec backed his first movie.
“We need to do everything we can to make sure violations like these don’t continue to happen,” Coolger said in part in a statement issued to various media outlets. “The first step is to listen. Salute to the brave women who came forward. I could never imagine how difficult that must be.”
Earlier this week, actor Terry Crews detailed his own account of sexual assault by a Hollywood exec and tweeted that Weinstein isn’t alone in his actions. He added hoped his story can help others.
Hollywood is not the only business we’re this happens, and to the casualties of this behavior— you are not alone. (15/cont.)
— terry crews (@terrycrews) October 10, 2017
