For an industry that publicly prides itself on being progressive, it is one of the most regressive cultures one can be immersed into.
By Leland Freeman
When I watched the 2018 Golden Globes earlier this week, all I could think of was the hypocrisy that was on display. The REAL WHISLEBLOWERS to the culture of Hollywood’s sexual misconduct were not there, because they were blackballed from the entertainment industry for opening their mouths before it became fashionable to do so.
Far too many of those A-list celebrities that “spoke up” at the Golden Globes against Hollywood’s rape culture knew the real stories, and in the past had openly praised the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey. The actual whistleblowers, one I got to know personally in my career in radio who is a very talented and intelligent woman, stood up to a high ranking executive at a major record company and told them “I won’t be rented out.”
That very act of standing up for her rights severely damaged her career in the music industry before it had a chance to get off the ground. Her story is not uncommon, and those that asked questions and or stood up for their rights, not just women’s rights but the rights of each and every human being not to be violated, were blackballed from the entertainment industry.
It is this rape culture, which was an open secret for years, and was one of the main forms of power in politics and the entertainment industry that was tragically normalized by the behavior of President Bill Clinton. A New York Times writer recently stated in a television interview that the tolerance of Bill Clinton as a documented and well-known serial rapist created the environment where rape culture was not only tolerated, but was also the norm.
Whether it was the standing ovation for Roman Polanski when he won his Oscar, even though he was in France which does not have extradition treaties with the United States, even for statutory rape, or the jokes during award shows where women had to have sex with Harvey Weinstein. The praise and admiration for those that used sexual assaults to gain power in politics and the entertainment industry is tragically offensive and sad.
The fact that this has been an open secret for years, reported by alternative media websites such as Infowars and CBN’s the 700 Club, documented in Roger Stone’s book “The Clinton’s War on Women” is makes it even more disturbing. If it wasn’t for Variety and the Drudge Report following up on the New Yorker story on Harvey Weinstein in late 2017, a story that was suppose to come on in 2004 in the New York Times before many A-list celebrities including Matt Damon allegedly had it buried, the story probably would have gone unnoticed.
While Matt Drudge’s website has massive reach, Drudge along with many of his conservative readers have a scorched Earth view towards Hollywood, and the true difference maker which broke the story out of the glass ceiling was the respected industry publication Variety, which stuck it’s neck out to report on Hollywood’s rape culture.
Variety’s reporters and editorial staff risked an industry wide blackball for publishing these stories. One can hope that this will carry over to Variety’s new sister publication Rolling Stone, and bring that publication back up to the standard when Michael Hastings was their lead scribe.
One can only hope the rest of Hollywood can follow suit, but judging by what transpired at the Golden Globes, Hollywood has a long way to go. The fact that they even joked about Harvey Weinstein getting recognized in memoriam in twenty years, or Kevin Spacey not asking about age of consent is something that even WWE has never done regarding Chris Benoit murdering his family.
What about Oprah Winfrey or Meryl Streep not only keeping their mouth shut but also praising Harvey Weinstein up until the point it became no longer socially acceptable to do so? That is the underlying problem; news of rape culture should not be a blackball offence until enough industry publications report on it. The fact that it became fashionable to state #MeToo post-Weinstein/Spacey is even more hypocritical.
In reality #TheyAllKnew and only talked about it when they had too. I can only think of all the rape victims and whistle blowers that have been AND STILL ARE blackballed from the entertainment industry for speaking out about Hollywood’s rape culture by the very same people that are now ironically “speaking out” about Hollywood’s rape culture.
There was one more thing that was mentioned by Seth Myers. All the below the line production personal that were not at the Golden Globes that make film and television productions possible.
What Seth Myers did not mention is that throughout the entertainment industry, it is organized in a cast-system of hierarchical classes where these below the line individuals are not allowed to talk or interact with those above them unless directed, otherwise you are blackballed from the industry.
For an industry that publicly prides itself on being progressive, it is one of the most regressive cultures one can be immersed into.
Leland Freeman is a conservative filmmaker and radio host based in Austin, Texas.
