Daily Times

Model-turned-actress Rose McGowan facilitated a roundtable discussion for New York magazine’s The Cut recently that brought together women who have accused producer Harvey Weinstein, US President Donald Trump, comedian and actor Louis CK and others of sexual misconduct.

The actress, who has been an outspoken proponent of the #MeToo movement, did not mince words when she pointed out that the men being brought down by the allegations are just part of the greater problem.

“I would challenge the media to stop using the word ‘alleged’,” she said. “My beef is really with all the people who are complicit. It’s the first time in history women are being believed, even though we get slagged.”

Rose McGowan also listened as several of the other women spoke out about their own experiences being shamed and at times, threatened, after going public with their experiences. “I stayed silent for a long time because I didn’t feel like there was a safe environment to be able to voice this,” Mimi Haleyi, one of the women who has accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, said. Added Rebekah Corey, who last month alleged that comedian Louis CK masturbated in front of her, “I’m getting death threats and I’m getting ripped apart and getting all this free hate every single day,” for coming forward with her story.

Despite the backlash, however, the women at the roundtable agreed that seeing other women come forward about their experiences was empowering even as it was terrifying. “I had a tremendous amount of self-blame until those women came forward and were published, and then I kind of felt like ‘Wow. Things are shifting, I can share this experience’,” Harvey Weinstein-accuser Dominique Hewitt said. McGowan recently made headlines after she blasted actress and philanthropist Meryl Streep on Twitter for what she perceived to be Meryl Streep’s complicity in Weinstein’s behaviour.

Published in Daily Times, December 27^th 2017.