Jane Fonda's Thoughts on Why the Harvey Weinstein Allegations Are Finally Surfacing
I found out about Harvey about a year ago and I'm ashamed that I didn't say anything right then. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] Because I guess it hadn't happened to me and so I didn't feel it was my place. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] I'm so proud of those fellow actors that are speaking up and And I know that it's taken a long time. It's a very very very hard thing to do. You don't get anything out of it as the person whose been victimized, but it's important that it come out. [MUSIC] It has happened to me. It has I only met Harvey when I was old, and Harvey goes for young, because that's more vulnerable. But it's very very common. [MUSIC] I was 20. He said to me, in the movie, your character has to have an orgasm. And I really need to know. What kind of orgasms you have and so he, he wanted me to sleep with him. [LAUGH] [SOUND] You have control Control over your body. And that you have to say no, and you have to talk and tell when something like that happens. If we all talked and told, then they'd be too afraid to do it I think. I hope. [BLANK_AUDIO]
In light of the numerous accusations of sexual harassment and assault against producer Harvey Weinstein, Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem are speaking out, and they are not mincing words. The duo made an appearance on the MSNBC show All in with Chris Hayes to discuss the allegations—and they held nothing back.
“It feels like something has shifted,” Fonda said. “It’s too bad that it’s probably because so many of the women that were [allegedly] assaulted by Harvey Weinstein are famous and white and everybody knows them. This has been going on a long time to black women and other women of colour and it doesn’t get out quite the same.”
Her spotlight on the factors of fame and race in public awareness and media coverage comes after Lupita Nyong'o—one of the few women of colour to have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct—opened up about uncomfortable experiences with the producer in a New York Times op-ed. Through a rep, Weinstein issued his only response that directly named an actress and specifically disputed her claim: “Mr. Weinstein has a different recollection of the events, but believes Lupita is a brilliant actress and a major force for the industry. Last year, she sent a personal invitation to Mr. Weinstein to see her in her Broadway show Eclipsed.”
Weinstein also denied all claims of sexual assault in a separate statement through a representative: “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.”
Fonda and Steinem were on the show specifically as representatives and spokespeople for The Women's Media Centre, which they co-founded back in 2005 with poet Robin Morgan. Steinem gave her own thoughts about the Weinstein scandal, citing bias as a reason why accusers weren't believed until they came out in masses.
“If you steal money, you probably get arrested and convicted, because everybody says stealing is wrong. But if you do something that is very sexist or racist, because there still is a critical mass of bias in this country, it takes more cumulative instances for it to be recognized,” Steinem said. “So we have reached a tipping point I think.”
We certainly hope so.
Watch their appearance in the video above.