Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino Talk Future of Time's Up Movement at Oscars: It's 'Not Stopping'
Two of the women at the forefront of the Time’s Up movement spoke on the red carpet of the Academy Awards.
Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino, who both accused media mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, walked the red carpet together and gave an update on Time’s Up. Sorvino, who attended as Judd’s date, explained the beginning of the movement and how it’s moving forward in all industries.
“I want people to know that this movement isn’t stopping,” Sorvino, 50, said on the ABC red carpet show. “We’re going forward until we have an equitable and safe world for women. And so we want to take our activism and our power and change things for any women, any where, working in any workplace.”
Judd, 49, also spoke on her decision to name Weinstein after telling her story for years after it happened in 1997. The actress says it was finally time for women to be heard.
“What’s so spectacular about this moment is that finally the world is able to hear,” she said. “I believe that we women — our voices have been squelched and…those of us that have come forward have often been disbelieved [and] shamed. And so much of the movement is about externalizing that blame and putting it back where it belongs, which is with the perpetrator, and us being the phoenixes who can light the way not only with Hollywood, but for safe and equitable work places across all spaces and all sectors.”
She continued, “I would mention that the Time’s Up legal defense fund has over 20,000 folks who have donated, raising over $21 million for anyone in any type of occupation who’s experienced sexual misconduct — not just someone in Hollywood. They can go to the Times Up website and enlist the help of lawyers pro bono who will take on the case.”
To donate to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, which will provide subsidized legal support to women and men in all industries who have experienced sexual harassment, assault, or abuse in the workplace, visit its GoFundMe page. Learn more about Time’s Up, an organization of women in entertainment combating sexual harassment and inequality, on its website.
Judd was one of the first actresses to speak out against Weinstein last October, alleging that he asked her to meet him in a hotel room where, dressed in a bathrobe, he pushed her to give him a massage and watch him shower. Sorvino gave her account just a few days later, saying that Weinstein also brought her to his hotel room where he massaged her shoulders and tried to make further physical advances by chasing her around the room.
A spokesperson for Weinstein has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.
“Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein,” they said. “Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.”
The 2018 Oscars ceremony will be held at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4 and will be televised live on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
