The Bombshell Articles That Defined The #MeToo Movement

It’s all but certain that the 2017 resurgence of the #MeToo movement would not have started were it not for the reporting of Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. The two New York Times reporters broke the story of the countless accusations of sexual harassment against movie producer Harvey Weinstein, who will sit trial in January 2020 for a number of charges pressed following the NYT report. The journalists' intrepid reporting and countless hours of research created a domino effect, inspiring dozens of other survivors to speak out against the powerful and predatory men in their respective industries. The wave of accusations also inspired the formation of the Times Up movement and legal defense fund to help women facing harassment and discrimination in their own workplaces. Kantor and Twohey went on to publish a book about their experience reporting the Weinstein story titled She Said. 

While by no means an exhaustive list of all the pieces published during #MeToo's first year, the prominent 13 articles that got us here are a collection of detailed investigations, reports on company culture, and first-hand accounts of experiences with powerful men. There’s still more work to be done, but we can thank these pieces of reporting for setting Twitter ablaze, pushing forward conversations, and becoming cultural tentpoles in the construction of the #MeToo moment.

The article that started it all. Kantor and Twohey spoke to the first of what would become over 80 Harvey Weinstein accusers, resulting in the loss of his job and the beginnings of legal action. 

Ronan Farrow built upon Kantor and Twohey’s work with additional accusers and details from Weinstein’s decades of abuse. 

Anthony Rapp, the first notable male victim in the #MeToo movement, came forward to BuzzFeed news' Adam B. Vary to detail alleged sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of Kevin Spacey, prompting over a dozen more accusers to come forward. Spacey was removed from his role on the final season of House Of Cards. Over the summer, one accuser dropped their lawsuit against the actor, and another died last month while in the midst of their lawsuit.

Read here.

Olivia Munn was one of six women who came forward to the Los Angeles Times reporters Amy Kaufman and Daniel Miller to accuse director Brett Ratner, who was behind movies like X-Men: The Last Stand, The Revenant, and Horrible Bosses, of sexual misconduct.

Read here.

Farrow continued his Weinstein reporting with a detailed look at the sinister ways Weinstein attempted to silence his accusers.

Read here.

Journalists Irin Carmon and Amy Brittain detailed the accusations against Charlie Rose from women employees and aspiring employees that included unwanted sexual advances like groping, phone calls, and walking naked in front of them.

NBC fired Matt Lauer ahead of the publication of Variety reporters' Ramin Setoodeh and Elizabeth Wagmeister's two-month investigation into the alleged inappropriate behaviour exhibited by the TV host.

In an article as controversial as its subject, reporter Katie Way detailed an anonymous account of an uncomfortable sexual experience a woman had with Aziz Ansari. The piece prompted a larger conversation about the grey areas of consent and harassment.

The very man suing Harvey Weinstein came under fire for his own alleged physical abuse, report Jane Mayer and Ronan Farrow

While Chloe Dykstra does not name ex-boyfriend Chris Hardwick in her Medium piece, it details the alleged sexual and emotional manipulation she experienced during their relationship.

Charlie Rose was just the tip of the iceberg in Farrow’s deeper look into the culture at CBS, in which accused men were promoted as the company paid settlements, with CEO Les Moonves being the biggest alleged perpetrator.

An accusation against Asia Argento, who herself is a Harvey Weinstein accuser, resulted in tough conversations about gender and accountability across the #MeToo movement. The story was reported by Kim Severson.