Men in Hollywood Shouldn't Be Allowed to Ignore Industry Sexism

By the 2015 Academy Awards, stars like Reese Witherspoon and Shonda Rhimes rallied behind the cause—and by 2016, there were even more vocal supporters proposing their own meaningful interview topics. For example, Sally Field suggested to Variety: "When you look back upon the most gratifying moments and achievements in your life, how do you think nominations and awards will rank?" The #AskHerMore initiative continued to put pressure on the Oscars and red carpet correspondents to demonstrate more thoughtful coverage of women in the industry and to showcase "better representation for all."

Over the last six months, however, Hollywood has been rocked by a "moment of reckoning" around sexual abuse and harassment, which began in October with the New York Times’ bombshell investigative report into decades of alleged harassment and abuse by Harvey Weinstein. Since then, a huge number of men and women in the entertainment industry have come forward with their own #MeToo stories, bringing sexual misconduct allegations against high-profile figures like Kevin Spacey, James Franco, Matt Lauer, Louis C.K., Dustin Hoffman, Ben Affleck, and more.

In response, prominent women in Hollywood launched Time’s Up, a campaign "powered by women" to address "systemic inequality and injustice in the workplace that have kept underrepresented groups from reaching their full potential." At this year’s Golden Globes, actresses attended the awards with women activists organizing against sexism, including #MeToo founder Tarana Burke and Domestic Workers United founder Ai-jen Poo. On the red carpet, Debra Messing noted E!’s history with gender wage gap disparity, and when introducing candidates for Best Director, Natalie Portman noted they were "all-male nominees." Most memorably, Oprah dedicated her entire speech when accepting the Cecil B. de Mille Award to the epidemic of abuse in America.

Men at the event, however, had little to say about the topic of rampant industry sexism; James Franco, Ewan McGregor, Aziz Ansari, and Sam Rockwell were among the winners who avoided discussing the campaign that dominated the evening—and it didn’t go unnoticed. Twitter was ablaze with calls for powerful men in the industry to speak out against sexism, and the Guardian published a piece imploring them to "spare us your 'solidarity' and actually speak up." After all, TIme's Up may be "powered by women," but the problem of abuse affects everyone—and allegations from actors like Terry Crews and Brendan Fraser show that men experience abuse in Hollywood, too.

At the same time, we don't need men to chime in on this watershed moment in history by talking about those who aren't "part of the problem," or by explaining to survivors what they think the real issues are. So how can men engage with this cultural moment and participate meaningfully in the conversation? They must examine the ways they've unknowingly benefitted from sexism or turned a blind eye to it, and commit to ending these patterns that so often lead to an abuse of power and people.

That's why we've reached out to the Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Director nominees from the last four years to ask them to commit to fighting for equal pay, treatment, and representation, and interrogate their complicity in industry sexism. We've reached out to reps for actors including Timothée Chalamet, Gary Oldman, Paul Thomas Anderson, and more, to ask:

• In light of the #MeToo movement and #TimesUp initiative, what are some ways you think we should all commit to fighting sexism and harassment in the workplace?
• Are you willing to be transparent with your salary and, when possible, use collective bargaining or a favored nations contract to help negotiate fairer wages for marginalized peers (women, people of color, gender non-conforming people, people with disabilities, etc)?

So far, we've received responses from representatives for Daniel Kaluuya, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Andrew Garfield, and Bruce Dern—all declining to comment. We will update as we hear back.

We’re also urging red carpet correspondents to #AskHimMore, and have reached out to reporters like Ryan Seacrest (who has been accused of sexual harassment) and Giuliana Rancic to ask:

• Would you be willing to commit to asking men where they stand on #MeToo and Time's Up—especially those facing abuse allegations or who have worked with alleged abusers? Why or why not?
• Would you be willing to commit to asking actors what steps they think we all should take toward wage transparency and parity?

We will update this post if and when we receive responses.

In the past, those who have tried to #AskHimMore have become targets for threats, sabotage, and more. But in the era of #MeToo, Broadly is calling on all of us to commit to asking more substantive questions on power, abuse, and representation—and together work toward a safe, equitable future.