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Powerful women against Harvey Weinstein

Harvey Weinstein was an American film producer and a former film studio executive. He, along with his brother Bob Weinstein, founded the company Miramax, bringing us some of the most iconic movies:  films such as “Pulp Fiction,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “The Aviator” and “Good Will Hunting.”

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On October 5th, The New York Times published a shocking story, revealing an accusation of Weinstein sexually harassing one of his former actresses Ashley Judd. Judd went on record and explained her haunting experience at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel, with the film producer. When Judd arrived, she went to the dining hall thinking the meeting was going to be over breakfast.  However, Judd was a bit stunned when she was escorted to Weinstein's room: “I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask,” Judd told the Times. “It was all this bargaining, this coercive bargaining.”

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Since then, more than 40 accusers have come out and shared their stories involving Weinstein. These accusers are some of the biggest names in Hollywood such as Cara Delevingne, Heather Graham, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie.

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In an already controversial story, these names caused an additional stir. Typically, when women come forward about a powerful men, there’s a chorus of voices that ask, “What do they have to gain? Do they just want their fifteen minutes of fame?”

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The dozens of powerful and extremely famous women who came out against Weinstein, then, directly contradict argument. These women are already rich, already famous and have nothing to gain from coming forward.

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One woman who has made the biggest impact is Alyssa Milano who tweeted on October 15th, “If you've ever been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet.” The tweet has 67.8 thousand responses since it was tweeted and continues to gain more each day. The founder of the campaign is Tarana Burke, an African American women who wanted to create a movement as a way to connect with fellow survivors and share their stories. The movement was born in 2007, long before the hashtag even existed. “It wasn’t built to be a viral campaign or a hashtag that is here today and forgotten tomorrow,” Burke told Ebony. “It was a catchphrase to be used from survivor to survivor to let folks know that they were not alone and that a movement for radical healing was happening and possible.”

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During this process Weinstein has since resigned from Miramax, separated from his wife and was fired on October 8th by his fellow board members.

10/24/2017

By Tresslyn Froehlich, Staff Writer

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