Golden Globes 2018
Photography by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Golden Globes 2018: Celebrities Support #TimesUp On The Red Carpet

Years ago a paparazzi photographer told us the worst thing a celebrity can do on the red carpet is wear black. According to this photographer black wouldn’t pop for the cameras, so imagine how often female actresses were told by their stylists and management to wear colour if they want to get onto a “best dressed” list. Imagine the pressure to not wear black?

This came to mind when a coalition of Hollywood heavy hitters announced in early December they would wear all-black to the Golden Globes Awards. It was a way of disrupting the traditional red carpet (“Best dresssed,” “Worst!” “What was she thinking?”) while showing solidarity with other women and men who’ve been subjected to harassment or sexual misconduct on the job. And let’s face it, this guaranteed we (and millions of other viewers around the world) would watch and listen closely.

So as celebrity after celebrity stepped out in black to show their support for victims of workplace injustices, the greatest surprise was the positive energy jumping off of the little screen.

In a post-Weinstein era more than 300 actresses, including Reese Witherspoon, Eva Longoria and Kerry Washington, spearheaded the #TimesUp action plan just last week. Time’s Up  has an M.O. to raise funds to create a legal defense fund for less privileged complainants of sexual harassment; to draft “legislation to penalize companies that tolerate persistent harassment,” and to discourage the use of nondisclosure agreements to silence victims.

Several actresses arrived on the red carpet with front line organizers and activists fighting to help women at the grassroots level.  Big Little Lies’ Laura Dern was there with Monica Ramirez, an attorney, organizer and advocate who co-founded Alianza Nacional de Campesinas. ANC is dedicated to ending violence against women, particularly farm workers in the United States and it’s Ramirez who wrote a letter in Time magazine from 700,000 women farm workers expressing solidarity with Hollywood actresses.

So while it would be remiss to rank or rate the celebrities we saw walking the red carpet at the  Golden Globes 2018, we can’t resist the urge to give props to the women and men taking a stand on this very painful subject. According to the Time’s Up website, a shocking “1 in 3 women ages 18 to 34 have been sexually harassed at work,” and 71% of those women said they did not report it.

Check out Time’s Up to learn more.

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