Thus far, George Clooney gets a very small bonus point for not invoking his baby daughter in his statements about George Clooney. There’s a glut of statements from men in Hollywood, all invoking some variation of the phrase “as a father of a daughter,” because apparently there’s a significant percentage of men who only relate to women if those women are their direct heirs. But, as I said, Clooney didn’t do that, so give him a slow clap. Then stop clapping, because Clooney did the second worst thing – he invoked the other stupid argument of “it happened to my wife/girlfriend.” At first I thought it was an one-off, but no: it’s George’s new talking point, and he mentioned it in interviews to both Extra and Entertainment Tonight:
George Clooney is well aware that sexual harassment isn’t just pervasive in Hollywood: His own wife, human rights attorney Amal, faced misconduct in her industry as well. He opened up about how his wife Amal has faced sexual harassment throughout her career as a human rights lawyer.
“She’s faced those exact kinds of situations in law,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s everywhere and so it needs to be addressed as if it’s a problem for all of us. And we have to take it on full force because the kind of assault that we’re talking about now is … it’s so infuriating that this was allowed to go on as long as it did.”
“My wife is a very smart, very together, very accomplished human rights lawyer and she said, ‘There have been times in my life, in the law community, [that] I had to tell someone to knock it off,’ so it happens everywhere,” Clooney, 56, told “Extra” on Sunday.
The Oscar winner hopes that the women who came forward with accusations of sexual harassment and assault against Harvey Weinstein will shift show business toward exposing and expelling more alleged predators.
“This wasn’t just guys hitting on girls, this is assault … If we don’t address this and really go after Harvey, it will come back,” he said. “There has to be some good that comes out of all of this and the good is going to have to be that women feel safe to speak up, that they are believed and hopefully be enough that it scares any man who would behave like that from doing it.”
Clooney added that moving forward, “Let’s stop having meetings in hotel rooms — you can have it in the restaurant downstairs.”
I know he’s not saying that he only came to Jesus on sexual harassment because his wife told him she had been harassed. I get that he’s trying to make the point that it happens in every industry. But he needs to stop saying this. It makes him sound like he doesn’t give a sh-t about it when it’s just happening to his costars. It’s all fun and games until someone harasses Mrs. Clooney, don’t you know. Also: “My wife is a very smart, very together, very accomplished human rights lawyer…” Good, let’s make sexual harassment into a class and education thing. Anyone can sexually harass a dumb, uneducated woman, but George’s brilliant wife got harassed so it’s even worse!
As for this: “Let’s stop having meetings in hotel rooms — you can have it in the restaurant downstairs.” He’s been saying variations of that in several interviews too, and it was bothering me but it took me a second (actually, it took me a few hours) to work out why it bothered me. Like, the location is not the worst part. The issue of the hotel room is awful, of course, and yes, Weinstein manipulated dozens of women into being alone with him in hotel rooms. But the thing is… Weinstein is a sexual predator who abused and harassed women everywhere. Complaining about the “hotel meeting” aspect of all of this comes across as A) slightly victim-blaming, like the onus should be on women to refuse to meet with producers wherever those producers choose and B) not the most pressing issue, because if a sexual predator can’t get you alone in a hotel room, he’ll manipulate you into some other location. And then he’ll jerk off in a potted plant.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Look at all the “good guys” rushing to cover their own butts
Is he adressing his brethren, or just telling women everywhere what they already know from experience?
Because I can’t figure out what is the point of this? I mean, what does it add, beyond himself to the Affleck-Damon dumpster fire pile?
As you say, the location of harrassment is irrelevant – the ladies at FOX were harassed in office environments – the facts that need adressing are known predators making comeback tours after fake rehabs or two minutes of “shunning” and having zero consequences for their actions, unlike the women harrassed, traumatized, or stigmatized out of work; tying employees up with NDAs and legal intimidations; the abuse of power and enabling by businesses – O’Reilly got a renewed contract *after* that $32million settlement; the fact that men have most of the power and choose to use it exploitatively.
Who asked about Amal? She can speak for herself.
He just needs to stop talking, like his buddy, Damon. They have both said quite enough.
“Who asked about Amal? She can speak for herself.”
You are so right. What’s the purpose in picking the smartest woman in the Universe and then constantly speaking on her behalf? Women world love to hear from such an accomplished professional what happened and how she reacted. Instead, we have this paltry PR stunt aimed at saving another male b.tt from the social media backlash.
The only reason George is speaking up now, is because it’s safe to do so. Where was he last year and the year before that? Oh yea…hiring model/actresses to be his “girlfriend”. This guy has so much shade. He better have covered his tracks real good if he plans to run for any office in the future (gag).
Go away George…
He’s a wimp, who thinks he knows everything about anything, and he just sounds patronising and stupid, he was all over Harvey Weinstein for years, when he was financing his crap films, but now he is just trying to make himself look good. Remember him saying when he met Amal first that she was as smart as he was and the other girls he dated were stupid and not good enough for him to marry(something on to that line) anyway he is full of crap. He is trying anything to make people go and see his latest flop, which will be his fifth in a row, so he is pretty much finished if he has another turkey on his hands, and one that he directed too.
George has done nothing wrong. It’s not necessary to nit pick everything that comes out of his mouth and critique it down to the last tiny morsel. Good grief. He’s on the ladies’ side – get it?
Unfortunately he has that dud of a movie to shill so I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more of his ‘thoughtful insights’ over the next few weeks.
Can’t stand George Clooney.
SO TRUE! The real good guys are in it everyday standing with and for their wives and daughters.
Yes assault can happen anywhere but I think what he was getting at is business meetings at hotels are the norm. That should stop.
And yes the whole “my wife is smart badass so it’s shocking she was harassed” is the same (wrong) point people made that A listers were too strong to be “messed with”. Both arguments are wrong.
His comment reminded me of a reporter yesterday talked about how David Schwimmer offered her an escort or assistant when they had to move their interview from a noisy restaurant bar to his hotel room to make her comfortable. It seems like even he knew what could go on for other people in these situations. I found her account poignant in light of what’s happening
Schwimmer has long been involved in anti harassment work so its not surprising.
Meetings in hotel rooms should have never happened/suggested in the first place and HW was allowed to do by his company and his male peers. Formal meetings with witnesses present should be the norm for all companies and the fact that some people pretended they didn’t know contributes to a culture like that. Hotel room meetings are unprofessional and dangerous. A safe setting is a formal setting with other people present and preferably with cameras. A restaurant would still be fine but HW as soon as he tried to isolate women, all the red flags went off for these women for a reason. They said yes because he made it pretty clear what the devastating consequences could be for their careers.
ETA: about Schwimmer, at least he tried but then predators like HW use assistants to make women feel comfortable and then they left them alone. You never know for sure.
I have heard people say that the film industry is peripatetic and hotel “rooms” are actually suites so it’s a) not as bad as it sounds and b) unavoidable.
Bullshit.
They should just hire a conference room in the hotel for this stuff and, as you say, have witnesses present.
He actually offered for HER to call someone. So not someone on his team. But someone she was comfortable with.
But Artemis I agree with everything else
As Sixer mentioned hotels, have rooms like conference suites, and different sized meeting rooms, as my company uses these facilities a lot. The whole bedroom suite as a meeting room is bull, it’s an environment to engender the situation that the likes of Weinstein wants to put his victims through.
Have you ever stayed in a hotel suite? This isn’t, like ,open the door and there’s a bed and a desk. If someone isn’t planning on assaulting someone else a hotel room meeting can be perfectly professional and a good, private place for business deals.
Hotel rooms are far too intimate and private for a woman’s safety. I would never go to a man’s hotel room unless I knew him and this isn’t any different. Just take it out of the equation.
@Nicole: yeah that was unclear to me but that would be ideal. If it’s a friend or an associate you can trust, it’s safe.
@Handwoven:
Goodbye. Any hotelsuite that isn’t yours and where nobody else is present, without any cameras is an unsafe place. It’s the predator’s personal space so it puts the victim at a disadvantage. You’re in their territory. A hotelroom also conjures up very intimate ideas which is why all of these women had their guard up instantly. Hotelroom = intimate = sexual favours. The abuse started as soon as he invited them up there and he knew they knew they had to say yes. Some of these women were running around and if it isn’t a small area, where are they running to? They don’t know. He would know though which is why he laughed in some of their faces at their futile attempts to escape an environment that weakened them.
Like Sixer said, why not rent a conference room instead? These people spend money like it’s pocketchange, if you know you want to hold a meeting, rent a damn room where there are cameras present. Anything can happen in a bedroom and there will be no video evidence of it, ever think of that? Good luck striking any deal in a room where there is no proof what happened.
That really makes me like David Schwimmer.
Also, “this wasn’t just guys hitting on girls” – I do realise that actual assault is another kettle of fish, but has George ANY idea what abusive men consider to be “just guys hitting on girls”? Because a lot of it is coercive, especially in industries like entertainment.
‘Coercive’ being the key word. The ‘phenomenon’ is unfortunately widespread in all the entertainment field, from classical music (yes even there!) to pop music, theatre, cinema, etc etc.
One of the reasons I stopped acting at 17, too much rot in that environment and being exploited for sexual reasons or relentlessly exposed to abuse/assault in order to get roles was a deal braker for me. I was told I was very talented but heck, there’s no talent or promises of fame in the world that will make me stand that stuff. Sod being famous, who cares.
I think some of the deeper problem is that they often see ‘coercive’ as ‘skilled’.
Silver – And it’s sad that complicity or a career change were your only choices.
detritus – yes. See: negging.
Lordy, yes. That super awesome tool for starting a healthy relationship.
excuse me while i riff a litte on this, but it’s crazy, to me that books like The Game, and other PUA nonsense is still being sold. Basically a guide on how to manipulate and pressure women with sex as the end goal.
Sme days I wish I was a journalist. I’d love to ask Strauss, and his corrolaries how they feel about this now. Or the ex-frat movement. Tucker Max, who published stories of sexual violence and has now reformed. Or Robin Baker after Sperm Wars pushed evolutionary psyc wrapped in lady hating into the public consciousness?
What say you men, on the culture you’ve helped create?
It’s all connected.
I think the key word here is consent. They all don’t seem to understand the true meaning of the word and the fact that it extends far beyond the person who’s in front of you. That especially men in positions of power must be aware that they might not even realize their position in itself can f*ck with someone’s decisionmaking.
Re Amal, I felt he was saying that even if you are well educated, smart, etc that this will happen to you too i.e. it happens to all women. It’s like when you find out that the upper/middle class woman you work with who looked like she had her life together has been beaten/abused by her husband for the last twenty years. It’s not the victim’s fault. You can’t escape being raped, harrassed, assaulted.
Yes, that blather of if it happened-to-my-brilliant-beautiful-wealthy-world-knowned-wife (brag, brag, brag) then it must be taken seriously really kind of infuriates me.
I honestly don’t know how his wife can stand it. He’s being patronizing and self-aggrandizing in one fell swoop, but I guess she knows what she married.
Oh somehow I doubt it 😉
George Clooney, I will say this that same way with Matt Damon… STFU.
I feel like he is starting to veer in what aboutism territory.
Why is clooney still talking? Why is he still spinning?
While all that is true of the hotel room it should still be banned. The whole atomsphere is a lot more initmate and not professional. Agents and specifically agencies should make it clear that if someone casting movies wants to meet in a hotel room that all their clients will never work with them again.
A single actor can do nothing but losing access to everyone at CAA for example is career suicide.
Agency’s make money when their clients gets parts. Agents willingly sent actresses to Weinstein’s hotel room. They are complicit in his crimes.
@Megan
+ 1 million!!
Yes they are. Everyone knew what he was a sexual harasser and a cretin but went along with it.
A lot of Hollywood people are always at hotels, either at festivals, film shows or on location. Meeting in a restaurant doesn’t always work, because it isn’t conducive to meetings sometimes. I think initially it was for convenience. He’s probably right about limiting these types of meeting, but it is hardly the crux of the problem, and abusers will find another location to abuse. It does sort of smack of a bit of victim blaming. I like George mostly, but I can see on some subject how condescending he sounds especially about his wife. Yes we realize she is smart and impressive now stop trying to convince us of that.
I thought he was trying to make the point it happens everywhere, that it’s not just a Hollywood problem, not trying to convince us how impressive she is. It likely happened to her in the beginning of her career, when she was much younger and didn’t have much power.
I have had legit job interviews in hotel rooms for large companies. They rent a large room/suite for the day, throw a desk in there and line up some chairs outside the door.
Women shouldn’t have to be wary of being sexually assaulted just because they are in a hotel room, George. Women are assaulted in hotel rooms because there happens to be a sexual assailant in there with them.
For my job, I’ve been in hotel suites at times over the years. It’s at hotels attached to the airport, and it’s convenient for everyone who is flying in. It’s always more than one person to be there.
Well said!!! The problem with this sort of thinking is that it is right on the border of victim blaming. “She should have known better than to go into that hotel room” is not too far behind “We have to stop having meetings in hotel rooms”. The one thing that he is forgetting too is that yes sexual assault happens everywhere, but threats to your entire career, and an actual demonstrable ability to end it do not.
Not really. It is saying men shouldn’t ask women to have business meetings in hotels. Banning meetings in hotels is a good practice in this industry.
I don’t mind anything he says here.
He’s not pulling the ‘as a husband’ card, he’s just doing what most of us have been doing, pointing out it’s a societal problem, not just a Harvey Weinstein problem.
He’s also not saying that people like Amal experiencing abuse is ‘more important’, or that not meeting in hotel rooms will magically solve the problem. It’s important to acknowledge that no one is automatically protected from harassment, because it shows the fallacy of those who act like the victims did something wrong or were a certain type. And changing the industry culture of meeting in hotel rooms is a good first step. No it won’t put an end to abuse, but it will make it harder for predators similar to Weinstein. It’ll mean people can flag anyone who insists on a hotel room meeting or moving to a private room as a risk, instead of thinking it might be business as usual.
I agree. I think he is just making the larger point that this is a huge problem everywhere to underly its seriousness, not to deflect.
Don’t you see??? He must be cancelled!!!!!
I’m not serious of course. This Clooney and Damon hate is loco. Keep the outrage with the predator. Bc all of Hollywood has this problem…. so let’s cancel all of it right? So let’s go ahead and do that for music, art, and pretty much every industry. 90% of Hollywood either handled this the wrong way or were understandably too scared to speak up, even the most powerful.
This situation is bigger than all this handwringing. Something is being said now!
He’s qualifying the hell out of it.
Same here, I don’t really have a problem with what he is saying.
I didn’t take the “no more hotel room meetings“ comment to be directed to women to stop being victims, but to put it out there to producers, directors, etc. that this trend of the industry needs to stop.
I don’t think he needed to qualify it with how awesome his wife is, he could simply say my wife has experienced harassment as well in a totally separate field, and got the same point across. But whatever.
Matt Damon, father of daughters, on the other hand, lied about what he knew, and will not be forgiven anytime soon for his push for Casey Affleck last year.
He could have said that and yes it would be an improvement over his original statement but honestly, we are parsing everything at this point.
I think he could have also been coming at it from the angle of “she doesn’t take shit from anyone but she was still victimized” as if to say, YES this happens to strong women as well–harassment is not exclusive to the meek/weak. Not that a victim’s personality traits should be relevant to their victimization but as a society, we still believe that it is.
So yes I think it’s important to dispel these notions that only a certain type of woman can be victimized. We need to keep drilling down on that so both men and women alike can understand how widespread and indiscriminate workplace harassment is.
I saw it differently. I think Clooney is saying that if an intelligent, strong, accomplished woman can be harassed and assaulted then any woman can be because it’s not about the victim, it’s about the predator. I actually like this and it should be said because a lot of assholes keep saying that the victims were desperate bimbos who couldn’t get ahead without throwing themselves at people like Weinstein. I think because the commentary here is so intelligent and informed that we CBers forget how prevalent other, more disgusting, sexist views are about the Cosbys/Weinsteins/Polanskis of the world.
I completely agree – well said!
This is exactly how I interpreted his comments.
me too.
Agree, and I also thought he’s simply saying it’s not just in Hollywood, it’s everywhere. No anger at all to him for this.
Yeah, I am ok with it. I just think some simple things can be done quickly. No hotels would mean that an actress would know it was against protocol and to walk away.
I think cut George some slack here. I appreciate that men are attempting to relate to the problem however they can. It’s a starting point (it’s clear that most of these men have never really thought through the issue, and yes that privilege is infuriating.) But at least they recognize it as a problem and are attempting to empathize and change behavior. What can I say? It’s a start.
Never!!! No slack-cutting!!! PERFECTION OR ELSE!!!!!
😉
Amen kitten! 😜 hah
Ugh can’t agree more! Don’t understand the need to attack men who are doing their part by speaking out and trying to bring more awareness. If they need to reference the important women in their lives as a starting point to really understand the significance of the issue, what’s wrong with that? I think it’s pretty clear when a man is using the women in his life as a prop for a talking point versus those who are trying to be empathetic and really understand the severity of the situation. We all reference things as a means to understand – whether something affects us personally or not. Parents (dads AND moms), after all, will reference their children when issues of child safety come about. It’s not to say they wouldn’t have cared for whatever the issue was at hand before, but having kids brings things into sharper focus for them and makes them realize issues surrounding kids – health, food, safety, etc. – is a big deal and should be dealt with. There are so many more similar examples, but the point is to not bash people who are trying to do good and learn to distinguish between those who are trying to help others vs. those who are just trying to help themselves.
This needs to be said more. Our President doesn’t even see sexual harassment as a problem. Why hold Hollywood actors to a higher standard?
Of course it happens everywhere, Georgie. And can happen to ANYONE.
Shut up, shut up, shut up. Shut. Up. You KNEW, Clooney. STAHP with this bull. You KNEW. You’re lying, and it’s disgusting. The way you’re inserting yourself into this mess like you’re some kind of authority, the way you’re wagging your finger at everyone in your industry like some kind of hall monitor, it’s really disgusting. You KNEW.
http://mashable.com/2017/10/16/scott-rosenberg-screenwriter-weinstein-hollywood/#3o72MRrliOqB
I kinda get what he is saying.
What he is saying is that of all industries it SHOULDNT be happening in is the Law industry. If anything, those who make, enforce, etc., should be following the law instead of breaking it or feeling above it.
He is saying that if it can happen in Law (politics, enforement, judicial, executive) it can happen anywhere and that we are upon the a tip of an iceberg which runs much deeper than that which we can see.
This is my take on his comments too…
I agree that he shouldn’t invoke another industry, but as a lawyer, I do agree that it is prevalent in the legal community. I’m glad we’re having this conversation.
I got that he was pointing out that it doesn’t happen just in Hollywood. His wife graduated from Oxford with a law degree. She probably had that happen while she was at Oxford (a friend’s daughter is studying law there and is appalled “that those wankers are supposedly the best and the brightest”) and clearly from his words, after that. And she’s somebody who doesn’t need to hire a lawyer to go after you.
Apparently the #metoo tag on Facebook was posted 12 million times. It happens everywhere and it’s worthwhile pointing that out. Doesn’t matter what you do for a living.
I am having a hard time being critical of Clooney for pointing out that sexual harassment is a societal problem, not just an entertainment industry one. It feels a little petty to criticize him for this.
A year after I finished college, I was working as a Legal Assistant in a small law firm. After our Christmas party, I went with a few colleagues to a bar to continue the party (significant others were not invited). Everyone was drunk, and we were all dancing in a group. One of the Partners started grinding with me, pressing his er*ction into my butt. I had a boyfriend at the time, but I didn’t know what to do so I just kept dancing.
I should have stopped it right away. Luckily, my Associate and another Legal Assistant pulled me away from him and made sure he didn’t dance with me again. I remember crying on the phone to my boyfriend on the cab ride home, saying that I worked at Mad Men. Meanwhile, the Partner wound up making out with the law clerk and almost went home with her (he was married with three daughters).
The next Monday morning was awful. It was like Fight Club: everyone who had gone home after the party knew that something had happened at the bar, but none of us who had been there would talk. The Partner actually had his Legal Assistant probe me to see if I was going to say anything, and then later pulled me into his office to apologize. It was a small firm with no formal HR department. I never said anything, and wound up leaving the firm a few months later.
It happens everywhere. And it is naive of George Clooney and others to think that it doesn’t.
I know of a firm in Vancouver where things like this used to happen. Partners/senior associates getting articling students/junior associates drunk at the Xmas party and then assaulting them. I hope it’s not still this way.
But Clooney does know it happens everywhere. That was basically the whole point of what he said.
Location doesn’t matter George but I’ll let Amal explain that to him.
Clooney has this need to be front and centre on every current issue. But has never done anything to change the situation, he never spoke up & called weinstein out, when talking shit about Clooney’s “female friends”. Just sat back & listened. Now he wants to be the saviour & work through all the problems. Give me a break!!! And stop shoving the fact that you’re with an accomplished human rights lawyer. A lawyer who cares more about fashion than the law. Sick of his constant hypocrisy. He, like all the other males in the industry, are just hoping no one pokes around their shady & covered up history.
He’s so annoying how he oversells Amal, who evidently would never give up her couture shopping sessions and Italian holidays for full-time work again. She’s just a successful lawyer among tens of thousands around the world.
And there’s some quite naff about these two, with the way they kind of assume they’re so elite, because among new graduates the top tier professions aren’t law but finance, consulting, and tech. Not to put down anyone working hard as a doctor or lawyer but law and med is second tier for grads these days.
I like George the most when he isn’t opining about something he CLAIMS to have no first hand knowledge of.
Ok… I saw this post on FB (by a guy) that really made me stop and think about how men don’t even think of it because they aren’t subject to it. See below:
“I draw a line down the middle of a chalkboard, sketching a male symbol on one side and a female symbol on the other. Then I ask just the men: What steps do you guys take, on a daily basis, to prevent yourselves from being sexually assaulted? At first there is a kind of awkward silence as the men try to figure out if they’ve been asked a trick question. The silence gives way to a smattering of nervous laughter. Occasionally, a young a guy will raise his hand and say, ‘I stay out of prison.’ This is typically followed by another moment of laughter, before someone finally raises his hand and soberly states, ‘Nothing. I don’t think about it.’
Then I ask women the same question. What steps do you take on a daily basis to prevent yourselves from being sexually assaulted? Women throughout the audience immediately start raising their hands. As the men sit in stunned silence, the women recount safety precautions they take as part of their daily routine. Here are some of their answers: Hold my keys as a potential weapon. Look in the back seat of the car before getting in. Carry a cell phone. Don’t go jogging at night. Lock all the windows when I sleep, even on hot summer nights. Be careful not to drink too much. Don’t put my drink down and come back to it; make sure I see it being poured. Own a big dog. Carry Mace or pepper spray. Have an unlisted phone number. Have a man’s voice on my answering machine. Park in well-lit areas. Don’t use parking garages. Don’t get on elevators with only one man, or with a group of men. Vary my route home from work. Watch what I wear. Don’t use highway rest areas. Use a home alarm system. Don’t wear headphones when jogging. Avoid forests or wooded areas, even in the daytime. Don’t take a first-floor apartment. Go out in groups. Own a firearm. Meet men on first dates in public places. Make sure to have a car or cab fare. Don’t make eye contact with men on the street. Make assertive eye contact with men on the street.
― Jackson Katz, The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help”
That, my friends, is what it’s like to be thought of as prey
Thank you for sharing this – it is very enlightening how our daily routines are so different because we, as women, feel vulnerable.
It is. It’s also food for thought.
For women, this is our “normal”. Most men have no conception of our normal, because it’s not their “normal”. I think most of them have no idea how widespread it is.
I’m not talking about Hollywood here, but in everyday life. Even the good guys who stand up for the friend/colleague etc who finds herself harrassed tend to think that it’s one isolated *sshole being well… an *sshole. It’s not their normal and we as women need to speak up to the men who surround us to make them understand, much like the example given above.
I’m sure the predators recognize each other. Does anyone remember the story about Michael Bay and his buddies who maintained a list somewhere of women who they had bedded for a role? That whole group, and there was something like 15 of them, are probably sh*tting their pants right about now.
Oh I wish they would all just STFU already!
“If it can happen to a rich, beautiful, sophisticated, highly educated woman like my wife it can happen to ANYONE!”
Some posters on earlier Klooney threads have pointed out how people like to put down Amal’s achievements. It’s really not that. It’s how George oversells her for his own agenda – not just for politics but to establish himself as part of a power couple. I find it all really distasteful, and she’s such a famehound she just laps it all up.
Of course she’s been harassed. We *all* have at one time or another! But she is the ultimate in threatening: intelligent, accomplished, and attractive.
Sorry I’m not seeing anything wrong with what he is saying. I think he’s making a very valid point that we can’t act like this is just a Hollywood problem it’s a problem everywhere and that is all he is saying.
I also feel like it’s really not his place to be talking publicly about her experience. He really needs to just stop.
Maybe she gave him permission to speak about it on her behalf.
“It happened to MY woman, so it’s a real problem!” Go suck an egg, George.
I honestly think his point about Amal was this: it happens to ALL women. Even powerful, threatening, intelligent, successful ones. So don’t victim blame, or assume that people like Harvey only go after weak prey, or think women who are victims of harassment can’t stand up for themselves.
I did not read it at all as stating that harassment is worse when it happens to his wife, or people like her.
Thank you for your comment!!
It does, and I am glad he put it out there. It happens in all industries, to women of all backgrounds. It’s not just a Hollywood/fashion industry issue.
I didn’t take his “hotel room” comment that way. Based on what I’ve gathered from other stories about all this, the hotel room meeting is pretty common. And doesn’t always turn into something gross, but it can make it easy. I took it as him calling on all other producers or execs not to do this anymore, don’t even put women in that situation.
I think he worded it badly, but I do get that what he’s trying to say is that there is no specific kind of victim. We have this tendency within our culture to blame sexual assault victims for their own victimhood – her skirt was too short, she drank too much, she’s trashy, she was sending out “vibes,” she agreed to be alone with him (even if the hotel room meeting is the norm!), etc. His point is that the behavior is inappropriate no matter what, and no amount of “good” behavior will protect a woman from it. He brings up his wife because she’s the ideal woman you’d expect to be removed from that sort of shit – wealthy, powerful, connected, accomplished – and she can’t escape it. The point is about shifting the idea of sexual harassment as being an “outdated” or “misplaced” sexual interest and recognizing it for the power play it is, particularly employed as a way to degrade or damage women.
I’m not giving him cookies for basic human decency or anything, but that’s more what I read from his statement. Now, the better question is – if so many men have personal relationships with women (or men!) who have experienced this, why do they help maintain the silence by failing to extend that sense of empathy to ALL sexual assault/harassment victims? Why not work toward making a world where nobody has to put up with it?
Yep.
And well yes, he is trying to make some suggestions like persecuting Weinstein and like no more meetings in hotel rooms. At least he is starting the conversation. So far there really aren’t any sensible suggestions as what to do about sexual harassment in the workplace. And so far it looks as if Weinstein doesn’t get sued, does he?
Yes, George, it’s a problem for ‘all of us,’ but today it’s Hollywood’s problem, and one way or another, you seem to be right in the middle of it. Thanks for trying to deflect, though. Maybe your wife could head up a UN panel.
Damon AND Clooney knew on some level– they just didn’t care enough to do anything about it. That’s the dirty little secret of pretty much every man around Weinstein. The fact is, men are still taken more seriously in all areas of life than women. It took a man’s opinion to get action taken on Cosby. If ONE very famous actor like Damon or Clooney had refused to work with Weinstein and said why publicly, it could have saved hundreds of women contact with him. Brad Pitt knew–but he just refused to work with him, he did not speak out. They were ALL complicit, and shame on them. They were famous enough that if they had spoken out they would have been UNTOUCHABLE and Weinstein would be toast. That they did not–well, that speaks to their cowardice– or lack of really caring at all.
He’s a narcissistic weenie. I don’t buy any of his social awareness shtick. It just comes from a compulsive drive to remain relevant in the face of flopping movies and waning star power.
Where was he when it was not only unfashionable but also risky to call out sexual predation? Oh yeah….fist-bumping Harv on the red carpet.
So as a wealthy man who dated girls young enough to be his daughter, he is only aware of sexual harassment because it happened to his current wife? I can’t roll my eyes back far enough without causing a hemorrhage in my brain.
I wish more of the men who have been sexually harassed or assaulted by actor/producer/directors would come forward.
Has anyone watched An Open Secret? That documentary was so disturbing but more people need to talk about it (pedophilia in Hollywood ) as well as women being sexually harassed.
Just generally speaking and not specifically in reference to this my-wife-too comment, he’s using up the last of his goodwill with this particular moviegoer.
I think for George, big fame, big movies, and big success came pretty easily, without that much talent or effort. He got lucky and probably is good at building relationships in showbiz. And his tequila business did very well.
But, if he decided to go into politics, the outcome will be as for his attempts at publicising his marriage and his wife (she’s a successful lawyer among tens of thousands who are equal or more successful than her, not a unicorn) and reincarnation as family man to death: he will fail.
George, cut your losses, stop talking about your wife and family so much, and realise you haven’t got much to bring to the political realm (judging by his pretty superficial comments about politics which are mostly personal attacks rather than policy focused).
Wow, even lawyers can be sexually harassed and assaulted? I thought my law degree made me invincible. What a waste of money.
I don’t have a problem with this. If he just spoke about it generally, he’d be accused of appropriating the issue.
Never have or will be as disappointed in a celeb as much as I am now in Clooney. #NotWoke #Fake
Well, I would give him bonus points for at least trying to make two valid points:
1. Weinstein needs to be legally persecuted because else it looks as if harassment of women doesn’t get persecuted.
2. Action is needed and Clooney suggests no more meeting in hotel rooms. Shame directors and producers who want to meet in hotel rooms? Why not.
How about the legal right of any actor or actress to videotape the audition conversation? And while we are at it how about the legal right of anybody who applies for a job to videotape the job interview? A copy of that video for both parties and we are fine.
Oh, for chrissakes, what do we expect George to do or say? There are always some butt hurt people who have to find fault with every single person who bothers to show up and support a worthy cause. They just love feeling “wronged”. George has shown up for this issue, referenced people in his life (Amal) who have been injured and harrassed similarly to confirm the widespread nature of this type of harassment, and people are going to find fault with what he has or hasn’t done. Idiots.
Clooney and other powerful men like him are part of the problem. They just do not see it that way.