I don’t think we reported on this at the time, but last year, Dakota did something at the Global Citizen Festival: she got on stage and asked people to call in to a phone number to tell their stories of sexual assault. She’s now launching The Left Ear, a podcast made up of the voicemails people left at the number. From the website:

In September of 2018, Dakota Johnson stood onstage at the Global Citizen Festival and gave the audience her phone number. She invited people around the world to tell their own stories. Within 30 minutes of releasing her number, the voicemail-box was flooded with thousands of stories of abuse, assault, and trauma recounted firsthand by the people who experienced it and survived.

In The Left Ear, she shares these stories with us and keeps her promise to make sure these stories are heard. The Left Ear functions as an introduction into non-judgmental listening, and a space of refuge and healing for the survivors who called in droves in order to finally share their stories. In an effort to respect and protect the individuals, the stories will remain anonymous and the voices will be slightly altered.

The Left Ear is a podcast where we listen with the ear closest to our heart. We listen to people tell their own stories. No judgments, no editorializing, just listening. On September 28, Dakota Johnson will be announcing the release of The Left Ear at the 2019 Global Citizen Festival, exactly one year after releasing her phone number on that same stage.

[From The Left Ear]

“The Left Ear functions as an introduction into non-judgmental listening…” I appreciate this so much. When the Harvey Weinstein story broke and #MeToo stories began coming through, I felt like the least we could – and I mean that, the very f–king least – is to simply bear witness, to listen to the stories of the survivors, to simply believe women at the very start.

You can listen to The Left Ear podcast here. I also appreciate that Dakota didn’t give us “updates” on this project throughout the year, nor is she trying to monetize it or use it as a promotional tour for anything other than “listen to survivors.” It must have cost her some money out of pocket to do all of this.

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One year ago I asked women and girls around the world to call me and leave a voicemail telling their stories of sexual violence, harassment, and gender based inequalities. I didn’t want to speak on their behalf, I wanted to listen to them. This is The Left Ear. A podcast where you will find the voicemails I listened to. To protect anonymity the voices have been slightly pitched, and any identifiers have been removed. Other than that, they have not been edited. These are real stories from real people around the world. Listening to these stories can feel very intense. So please take care of yourself if choose to listen. And I hope you do choose to listen, because listening is the most important thing you can do for someone. In this podcast, I want to create a space where the listener is listening just as honestly and bravely as the speakers who had the courage to call. Your left ear is the ear closest to your heart. And by listening with your heart, you can save someone even just a little bit. The first episode is available now, and more to follow every Monday starting October 7th. For more information and resources visit the link above. All my love, D

A post shared by Dakota Johnson (@dakotajohnson) on Sep 29, 2019 at 9:22pm PDT

Photos courtesy of WENN and Instagram.