More than 300 Hollywood A-list women, including actresses, writers and directors, have launched Time’s Up project to help fight harassment in the film industry and other workplaces.
The Time’s Up initiative was announced via a full-page advert printed in the New York Times.
The project is described as a “unified call for change from women in entertainment for women everywhere”.
It comes in the wake of abuse allegations by high-profile actresses against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
In a solidarity letter published on its website, Time’s Up says the “struggle for women to break in, to rise up the ranks and to simply be heard” must end.
It added: “Time’s up on this impenetrable monopoly.”
The letter, which is aimed at “every woman… who has had to fend off s**ual advances”, goes on to say that such harassment can often continue because “perpetrators and employers never face any consequences”.
The Time’s Up campaign, which is backed by hundreds of actresses including Natalie Portman, Reese Witherspoon, Cate Blanchett, Eva Longoria and Emma Stone, has already raised more than $13 million of its $15 million target.
The funds raised will be used as legal support for both female and male victims of harassment at work.
The project is aimed primarily at those who are unable to meet the payments to defend themselves, such as agricultural or factory workers, caretakers and waitresses.
The Time’s Up initiative also calls for “gender inequality and the imbalance of power” to be addressed, stressing the need for more women to gain positions of authority and parity of pay.
Last month, Time magazine named “the Silence Breakers” – women and men who spoke out against abuse and harassment – as its “Person of the Year” for 2017.
2017 also saw the rise of the #MeToo hashtag, which inspired a global movement of women and men to share their stories of abuse and harassment.
The #MeToo hashtag gained momentum after actress Alyssa Milano took to Twitter to ask victims of assault to come forward in a show of solidarity.
Between October and December 2017, #MeToo was used on Twitter and Facebook more than six million times.
Senator Al Franken has said he is planning to quit “in the coming weeks” after string of harassment allegations.
He said from the Senate floor: “I am proud that during my time in the Senate that I have used my power to be a champion of women.”
The Minnesota Democratic senator’s speech came a day after nearly 30 Democrats called on him to resign.
Al Franken would be the most prominent lawmaker to resign amid a wave of misconduct claims against high-profile figures.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Ethics Committee launched harassment investigations into two Republican congressmen.
Trent Franks of Arizona announced he was resigning as the inquiry was announced.
The congressman acknowledged having made two female congressional aides “uncomfortable” by asking them about surrogacy when he and his wife faced infertility.
The committee also said it would investigate Blake Farenthold, who used $84,000 of taxpayers’ money to settle a harassment lawsuit with his former spokeswoman.
Over in the Senate, Al Franken told his colleagues on December 7: “Today I am announcing that in the coming weeks I will be resigning as a member of the United States Senate.
“I may be resigning my seat but I am not giving up my voice.”
The former Saturday Night Live comic and two-term senator has apologized to several women who have accused him of groping and harassment, but he faced mounting pressure to step aside after a new allegation surfaced on December 6.
Al Franken said some of the claims against him “are simply are not true”, but added that women “deserve to be heard and their experiences taken seriously”.
The senator also referenced the harassment allegations that have been leveled against President Donald Trump and Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.
“I, of all people, am aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party.”
Al Franken is not the only politician to have found himself engulfed by harassment in recent weeks.
On December 5, Michigan Democrat John Conyers announced he would resign amid claims of harassment made by his congressional aides.
Seven women have come forward to accuse Roy Moore, a former Alabama Supreme Court judge, of inappropriate behavior decades ago.
Several Democratic female senators – including some who called for Al Franken’s resignation a day earlier – hugged the lawmaker after his speech.
Senator Bernie Sanders echoed Al Franken’s criticisms of President Donald Trump on Twitter.
He tweeted: “We have a president who acknowledged on tape that he assaulted women. I would hope that he pays attention to what’s going on and think about resigning.”
Fellow Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar thanked Al Franken on Facebook, calling him a “friend to me and many in our state”.
The decision to fill the vacancy left by Al Franken will fall to Democratic Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, who said in a statement he has not determined who will replace him.
Rebel Wilson is the latest Hollywood star to reveal her experience of harassment in the entertainment industry.
In a series of tweets, the Australian actress alleged that “a male star in a position of power” had repeatedly asked her to perform an inappropriate act.
“I refused. The whole thing was disgusting,” the Pitch Perfect star said.
Rebel Wilson said the unnamed star’s male friends had attempted to film the incident before she left the room.
The actress complained to the film studio about the encounter, but says she was later “threatened by one of the star’s representatives”.
Rebel Wilson also recounted a second incident which she described as a “hotel room encounter with a top director”.
“Nothing physical happened because the guy’s wife called and started abusing him over the phone for sleeping with actresses… I bolted out of there immediately,” she said.
Wilson added: “If I witness this behavior, whether it happens to me or someone I know, I will no longer be polite.”
A growing number of harassment and rape allegations have been made against public figures in recent weeks.
The allegations have been sparked by multiple women speaking out against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, and a subsequent campaign encouraging victims to share their stories of sexual harassment under the #metoo hashtag.
Amanda Bynes now claims her arrest was an elaborate conspiracy made up by police.
Amanda Bynes, 27, has alleged she was “s***ally harassed” by the officer who arrested her on Tuesday night.
The former actress took to Twitter on Saturday to make a number of serious of accusations against a male NYPD officer, including one in which she claims he “slapped my va**na”.
It was reported that a spokesman for NYPD confirmed that they had received a formal complaint from Amanda Bynes.
“The matter is under investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau,” the spokesman said.
Begging fans not to believe that she was arrested, Amanda Bynes said it was not the New York apartment building’s staff who called authorities but the actress herself.
Amanda Bynes wrote: “Don’t believe the reports about me being arrested. It’s all lies.
“I was s***ally harassed by one of the cops the night before last which is who then arrested me. He lied and said I threw a b**g out the window when I opened the window for fresh air. Hilarious.
“He slapped my va**na. S***al harassment. Big deal.”
While the NYPD is taking the matter seriously a source revealed that there are witnesses who discredit her account.
Amanda Bynes claims her arrest was an elaborate conspiracy made up by police
According the source, the building manager was with the officers at all times inside the apartment and Amanda Bynes was never alone with the male officer.
It took the actress some time to come to the door of her apartment when police arrived as she was already on the phone making a complaint but officers had entered her apartment, the source said.
However, the policeman, Amanda Bynes said, arrested her to cover up his actions.
“I then called the cops on him. He handcuffed me, which I resisted, quite unlike any of the reports stated.”
Amanda Bynes went on to say she was denied her legal rights and called police’s decision to send her for psychiatric assessment prior to charging her “offensive”.
“Then I was sent to a mental hospital. Offensive.
“I kept asking for my lawyer but they wouldn’t let me.”
Amanda Bynes claims the fact she was allowed to leave court on Friday was proof there was no basis to her charges – that include unlawful possession of mar***ana as well as reckless endangerment and attempted tampering with evidence for allegedly throwing a b**g out of her apartment window.
“The cops were creepy. The cop s***ally harassed me, they found no pot on me or b**g outside my window. That’s why the judge let me go.”
“Don’t believe any reports,” Amanda Bynes said in closing.
Amanda Bynes’ behavior has been increasingly unusual after she left California – where she was charged with DUI and other driving offenses – and moved to New York.
Katt Williams has been arrested after allegedly threatened a bar employee with a pool cue in a brawl.
The comic was booked into King County Jail in Seattle around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday for investigation of harassment, assault and obstructing police, TMZ reports. He was released early Monday morning.
Katt Williams “brandished a pool cue at a bar manager and refused to leave the business”, police sources tell the website.
He later followed a family outside of the bar and allegedly threw a cigarette at a woman as she got into her car, hitting her in the eye.
Katt Williams also allegedly threw a rock at the vehicle.
It follows a series of bizarre antics by Katt Williams in recent weeks.
Katt Williams has been arrested after allegedly threatened a bar employee with a pool cue in a brawl
Last week was caught on video in Sacramento slapping a Target employee in the face.
Katt Williams was arrested on charges of attacking an aspiring rapper on his tour bus outside a downtown Oakland hotel last month. He was later released with no charges filed.
He is also being sued over an onstage meltdown and aborted performance in Oakland.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports it’s the second Alameda County lawsuit filed over Williams’ bizarre 10 minutes on stage last month at Oakland’s Oracle Arena.
The suit filed by 35-year-old Brian Herline, of Modesto, says he and hundreds of fans were disappointed when Katt Williams took off his clothes and challenged people to fight.
Brian Herline is seeking class-action certification in an effort to get ticket money back for all audience members.
Kelley Lynch, Leonard Cohen’s former manager and partner, has been jailed for 18 months for harassing the singer-songwriter.
Kelley Lynch, 55, was found guilty by a Los Angeles court last week, after a sending a torrent of expletive-strewn emails and letters to Leonard Cohen.
She was also sentenced to five months probation and ordered to attend anger-management courses.
Leonard Cohen, 77, thanked the court for the “even-handed and elegant manner in which these proceedings have unfolded”.
“It was a privilege and education to testify in this courtroom,” he told an LA county superior court judge.
Kelley Lynch is not likely to spend her full sentence behind bars due to prison overcrowding in California.
She served as Leonard Cohen’s manager for 17 years, and the pair had a brief relationship.
Leonard Cohen fired, and then sued, Kelley Lynch in 2004 over the theft of millions of dollars from his personal fortune
But Leonard Cohen fired, and then sued, Kelley Lynch in 2004 over the theft of millions of dollars from his personal fortune.
A judge ordered Kelley Lynch to pay $9.5 million in damages, but her lawyers claimed she was unreachable and the money was never repaid.
Leonard Cohen, whose best-known songs include Hallelujah and Suzanne, later came out of retirement, in part to rebuild his finances.
Kelley Lynch’s campaign of harassment started soon after she was fired.
The court was shown binders of emails Kelley Lynch had sent Leonard Cohen, some of which ran to 50 pages.
In a statement made before the sentencing, Kelley Lynch accused prosecutors of carrying out a “vicious attack” on her.
However, she added: “I do believe that I have engaged in excessive and unauthorized rambling.”
“It gives me no pleasure to see my onetime friend shackled to a chair in a court of law,” said Leonard Cohen, “her considerable gifts bent to the service of darkness, deceit and revenge.”
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