On Thursday, two titans of the #MeToo movement sat down to discuss the current state of the industry. Ronan Farrow, who wrote a Harvey Weinstein exposé for The New Yorker shortly after initial allegations were printed in The New York Times, and Rose McGowan, one of Weinstein's accusers and a vocal member of the movement, chatted about the actress' new book, Brave, and Farrow credited her with helping start the movement.
"Rose was telling this story to reporters much earlier than this was made public," he told the audience, according to The Hollywood Reporter. McGowan alleges that Weinstein raped her at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, breaking her NDA back in October to publicly name him for the first time. Ronan had originally filmed McGowan's claim back in January 2017, but she later declined to let him use it in his original piece. Weinstein denies all accusations of nonconsensual sex.
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Turns out there's other information that McGowan hasn't shared, as well. During the talk, Farrow brought up an additional statutory rape claim McGowan has privately made against another "prominent" man in Hollywood when she was just 15 years old. But is she ready to come forward?
"In general? Sure," she said. "Right now at this moment? I've had a big day."
McGowan says she didn't even realize the incident was assault until after Farrow's first Weinstein story broke.
"I was in bed and I started saying, 'Oh my god. I think that's molestation,'" she remembered. She says the incident itself took place when the man took her home and "showed me a soft porn movie he had made for Showtime, under a different name. And then he had sex with me."
This is an unfortunate reminder that, despite many months passing since the first allegations, we are still in the middle of the movement. This pervasive problem won't be dealt with in one fell swoop, but rather over time as women feel more and more comfortable coming forward. The good thing is, we've finally created a space that will let them.
If you have experienced sexual violence and are in need of crisis support, please call the RAINN Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
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